MEXICO CITY - Mexican army divers were blocked by debris in their first attempt to descend deep into a flooded coal mine in northern Mexico, where 10 miners have been trapped for a week, the country s defense minister said on Thursday.
The miners were trapped at a mine in the border state of Coahuila on Aug. 3 when their excavation work caused a tunnel wall to collapse, causing flooding in parts of the underground mine.
In a statement Thursday evening, the Mexico attorney general s office said that it had requested a judicial hearing in Coahuila to charge the mine owner for illegal exploitation of a state asset, citing his failure to comply with the law's obligations for coal mining.
Mexican officials had managed to reduce water depths that originally had topped about 100 feet 30 meters but have struggled to send in rescue teams even on preliminary efforts to gauge whether conditions would be safe for a rescue mission.
Two military divers entered one of the three flooded mine shafts on Wednesday after a rescue professional and a miner submerged four times to clear debris, but were unable to fully enter the mine.
Defense Minister Luis Cresencio said it had been blocked in a news conference on Thursday.
There are still some planks of wood, there are obstacles and there are no space to move forward. Even with their lights to see inside, they don't have the necessary visibility to identify what they are finding, Cresencio said.
Cresencio said officials would continue to try to enter the mine while ensuring the safety of rescue teams. The water depths in the three shafts measure about 30 feet 9 meters 23 feet 7 meters and 16 feet 5 meters.