Mexico to use underwater drone for trapped miners

AGUJITA, Mexico: Rescuers will deploy an underwater drone as part of efforts to save 10 workers trapped for five days in a flooded coal mine in northern Mexico, authorities said on Monday.

The device provided by the navy has a high-resolution camera and light to identify possible obstacles without putting lives at risk, civil defense national coordinator Laura Velazquez said. Work continued to pump water from the mine in Agujita in the northern state of Coahuila to make it safe enough for rescuers to go inside.

The military said that it was hoped rescuers would be able enter to one of the shafts in the middle of this week if the water level drops to 1.5 meters (around five feet). The mine shafts descend about 60 meters and the water inside the one that rescuers plan to go into was 19.4 meters deep, down from more than 30 meters initially, officials said.

"We´re hurrying to remove the water so that the rescuers can enter," said President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who visited the site on Sunday and urged intensified efforts to save the miners.

Around 300 liters were being pumped out each second, he told reporters back in Mexico City. "Everyone has faith. No one is thinking about anything other than the rescue," he said. Authorities said the miners had been carrying out excavation work when they hit an adjoining area full of water. Five workers managed to escape from the crudely constructed mine in the initial aftermath of Wednesday´s accident, but there has been no contract with the others.