https://www.miningweekly.com

Mexico to recover bodies of miners killed in 2006 blast

2nd May 2019

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador pledged on Wednesday to recover the more than 60 remaining bodies of miners killed in a massive coal shaft explosion in 2006, a mission he described as a humanitarian promise made to victims' families.

The announcement came on Mexico's Labor Day holiday, and Lopez Obrador said he did not expect the company that operated the mine to oppose him.

"This is an act of justice and it's a commitment we made going back a long time," the president told reporters at his regular morning news conference.

He did not put a price tag on the mission, saying that "whatever is necessary" would be spent.

The Pasta de Conchos mine blast took place in northern Coahuila state.

The mine was operated by Grupo Mexico, one of Latin America's largest miners. The company has maintained that the blast was an unfortunate accident and said it has compensated families, spending some $30 million on trying to find the 63 remaining miners.

Grupo Mexico did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shortly after the explosion, just two bodies were recovered.

A special prosecutor for the case blamed Grupo Mexico for allowing a deadly mix of methane, heat and oxygen to build up in the mine, failing to build proper ventilation shafts or to neutralize explosive coal dust. Government inspectors who failed to enforce the necessary safety precautions were also implicated.

Lopez Obrador said the recovery effort would begin soon, and that German Larrea, the head of Grupo Mexico and one of Mexico's richest billionaires, had been sought out but that this was a government decision.

"If (Larrea) helps, that's welcome. If he doesn't help this is something we will do," said Lopez Obrador.

In the moments following the blast, the workers were likely buried by thousands of tons of rock.

Investigators also said it was possible that many of the men were incinerated.

In the years since the incident, concerns have been raised about the danger to potential rescue workers in any further recovery efforts.

The leftist president and reclusive tycoon have a history of clashes.

About a month before Lopez Obrador's landslide election victory last year, Larrea wrote an open letter warning of a "populist" risk that would imperil investment, but without referencing him by name.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION