Mexican miner rescued after nearly 14 days in a flooded Sinaloa mine

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — A miner was rescued Wednesday after being trapped for nearly 14 days following a collapse in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa, authorities said in a statement.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed that another miner has been found dead and one more is still missing.

A dam breach caused by a structural failure flooded El Rosario mine on March 25, trapping Francisco Zapata Nájera and three co-workers. Of the 25 miners present during the accident, 21 escaped immediately. Five days later, rescuers pulled one survivor from a depth of 300 meters (985 feet).

Zapata Nájera was located on Tuesday by divers, but the rescue teams were unable to reach him through heavily flooded areas until 21 hours later.

The survivor was brought to the surface Wednesday morning. His condition was stabilized and he was sent in a Mexican Air Force helicopter to a hospital in Mazatlán, where he will be treated by specialists.

Some hours before, Sheinbaum had said that the rescue teams were waiting for the water to be pumped out to complete the extraction.

In August 2022, 10 miners died when the El Pinabete coal mine in Coahuila flooded — a disaster that sparked intense controversy by revealing how many Mexican laborers work without essential safety protections or official supervision. Authorities worked for weeks to pump water out of the mine, hoping they could send in rescuers, but were never able to keep water out and stabilize the mine shaft sufficiently. The miners’ bodies were not recovered.

Mexico's deadliest mining accident took place in February 2006 at the Pasta de Conchos mine in Coahuila, where an explosion killed 65 workers.

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