The El Pinabete mine in Coahuila, Mexico collapsed on August 3. Rescuers managed to pull out five people, but ten remain trapped in flooded wells.
Since then there have been no known signs of life or contact with the missing miners.
Obrador said he wanted the victims’ families to be involved in the rescue strategy, as the decisions came more than three weeks after the tragedy. “I ordered (rescuers) to inform the families and… they disagreed. It’s not that they don’t want to save their relatives; it seems like a long time,” López Obrador said on Friday.
When asked if the families had been offered compensation by the government, López Obrador did not deny the possibility of payment.
“Now the most important thing is the rescue. Of course, there is compensation, but that is not the issue,” he said.
López Obrador added that efforts to rescue the miners and compensation to their families are both on the table. “We are looking for which option is better. And the instruction is not to give up,” he said.
On Monday, Mexico’s Civil Protection Coordinator Laura Velazquez said the depth of water in the mine’s multiple flooded shafts was high, reaching 31 meters (101 feet).
Efforts by responders to drain the mine helped lower the water level overall — until a breach in a neighboring mine caused water to rush back in.
“Unfortunately, we still couldn’t save the miners… progress had already been made, but the bad luck was that it opened another hole in the neighboring mine, which flooded and the water level rose again.” López Obrador said then.
