Four days underground and the mud does not give way
The Santa Fe mine, in the Cacalota municipality, municipality of El Rosario, has become a race against time. Four workers have been trapped in its bowels for four days. The official promise is clear: more rescuers and miners will be incorporated to accelerate the extraction alive.
But here is the real problem, the one that does not appear in the first communications. It was not a classic collapse. According to the official version, the massive entry of mud from a tailings dam covered the internal ramps. That technical detail is crucial.
“What happened is that the internal ramps were covered with very thick mud,” explained Álvaro Vargas Miranda, manager of the Sinaloa Mining Industry.
Twenty-five people were inside. Twenty-one managed to get out. Four no. Now, that same mud that trapped them is hindering the progress of the rescue brigades, which are guided by other miners.
The operation is a wet maze. They are placing wood to attempt a “controlled and risk-free” entry. At the same time, vertical drilling is already in progress. The hope is to find some point of connection with those trapped.
The manager insists that the work is 24 hours a day and that there are no ventilation problems. It sounds reassuring until you remember that they’ve been down there for four days.
Meanwhile, above ground, families wait. The four are originally from Durango, Hidalgo and Jalisco. Their identities have not yet been made public, but their loved ones are already speaking with state, federal and municipal authorities.
The movie repeats itself: the accident, the official version of the cause, the promise of imminent rescue and the families looking at the ground, literally, waiting for news. Collective memory is short, but the files of these cases are long and sadly similar.
