Mexico prepares new plan for trapped miners after setback

AFP

Mexican authorities announced Monday a plan to seal leaks into a coal mine where 10 workers have been trapped for more than a week, after renewed flooding dealt a major setback to rescue efforts.

A sudden jump in water levels in the El Pinabete mine in the northern state of Coahuila deepened the despair of relatives, who are increasingly frustrated with the slow pace of the operation.

The water in the shaft that rescuers hope to enter was around 38 meters (125 feet) deep on Monday, compared with 1.3 meters early Sunday, civil defense national coordinator Laura Velazquez said.

The current level is even higher than in the initial aftermath of the August 3 accident, despite non-stop efforts to pump out water, according to figures given by the government.

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The new strategy is intended to prevent more water from entering El Pinabete from the much bigger, abandoned Conchas Norte mine nearby, Velazquez said.

The plan is to drill 20 holes 60 meters deep into the Conchas Norte mine and inject cement into them to seal the leaks, Velazquez said.

Authorities believe the workers accidentally pierced a hole in a wall between the two mines, causing El Pinabete to flood.

“We’re not going to stop working to rescue the miners,” President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters.

Five miners managed to escape following the initial accident, but there have been no signs of life from the others.

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Several hundred rescuers, including soldiers and military scuba divers, are taking part in the rescue efforts.

The focus so far has been on pumping water out of El Pinabete and removing wood and other debris from the vertical shafts so rescuers can enter the main tunnels.

On Friday authorities had said they were finally in a position to begin searching the mine, but those hopes soon faded.

Over the weekend, relatives of the missing workers voiced growing desperation and distrust in the handling of the rescue operation.

They also called for the mine owners to be held responsible.

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“This is a crime that cannot go unpunished,” Magdalena Montelongo told reporters, adding that the miners had to work in “very bad conditions.”

Accidents are common in Coahuila, Mexico’s main coal-producing region.

The worst was an explosion that claimed 65 lives at the Pasta de Conchos mine in 2006.

Chile declares state of catastrophe as wildfires rage in Ñuble and Biobío

Wildland firefighting crews are battling 19 forest fires across the country, 12 of them concentrated in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, located about 500 kilometers south of Santiago.

“In light of the severe fires currently underway, I have decided to declare a state of catastrophe in the regions of Ñuble and Biobío. All resources are now available,” the president announced in a post on X.

Authorities have not yet released an official report on possible casualties or damage to homes.

According to images broadcast by local television, the fires have reached populated areas, particularly in the municipalities of Penco and Lirquén, in the Biobío region, which together are home to nearly 60,000 people. Burned vehicles were also reported on several streets.

“The Penco area and the entire Lirquén sector are the most critical zones and where the largest number of evacuations have taken place. We estimate that around 20,000 people have been evacuated,” said Alicia Cebrián, director of the National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (Senapred), in an interview with Mega TV.

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In recent years, forest fires have had a severe impact on the country, especially in the central-southern regions.

On February 2, 2024, multiple wildfires broke out simultaneously around the city of Viña del Mar, located 110 kilometers northwest of Santiago. Those fires resulted in 138 deaths, according to updated figures from the public prosecutor’s office, and left approximately 16,000 people affected, based on official data.

International

Former South Korean President Yoon sentenced to five years in prison

Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison for obstruction of justice and other charges, concluding the first in a series of trials stemming from his failed attempt to impose martial law in December 2024.

The sentence is shorter than the 10-year prison term sought by prosecutors against the 65-year-old conservative former leader, whose move against Parliament triggered a major political crisis that ultimately led to his removal from office.

Yoon, a former prosecutor, is still facing seven additional trials. One of them, on charges of insurrection, could potentially result in the death penalty.

On Friday, the Seoul Central District Court ruled on one of the multiple secondary cases linked to the affair, which plunged the country into months of mass protests and political instability.

International

U.S. deportation flight returns venezuelans to Caracas after Maduro’s ouster

A new flight carrying 231 Venezuelans deported from the United States arrived on Friday at the airport serving Caracas, marking the first such arrival since the military operation that ousted and captured President Nicolás Maduro.

On January 3, U.S. forces bombed the Venezuelan capital during an incursion in which Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured. Both are now facing narcotrafficking charges in New York.

This was the first U.S.-flagged aircraft transporting migrants to land in Venezuela since the military action ordered by President Donald Trump, who has stated that he is now in charge of the country.

The aircraft departed from Phoenix, Arizona, and landed at Maiquetía International Airport, which serves the Venezuelan capital, at around 10:30 a.m. local time (14:30 GMT), according to AFP reporters on the ground.

The deportees arrived in Venezuela under a repatriation program that remained in place even during the height of the crisis between the two countries, when Maduro was still in power. U.S. planes carrying undocumented Venezuelan migrants continued to arrive throughout last year, despite the military deployment ordered by Trump.