Mexico president says to visit mine disaster zone

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday that he would visit the coal mining area where rescuers are battling to save 10 workers who have been trapped for four days.

"I'm going to see how the rescue's going. I'm going to the situation," he told reporters during a trip to the western state of Colima.

Nearly 400 soldiers and other personnel, including six military scuba divers, have joined the effort to free the miners in the northern state of Coahuila following Wednesday's accident, according to the government.

Lopez Obrador had earlier declared Saturday "a decisive day" for the operation in Agujita in the municipality of Sabinas.

"According to the experts, we'll know if it's possible for the divers to enter safely," he tweeted.

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The focus has been on pumping out water from the mine to make it safe enough to enter the shafts, which are 60 meters (200 feet) deep.

Five workers managed to escape from the crudely constructed mine in the initial aftermath of the disaster, but since then, no survivors have been found.

Coahuila's state government said the miners had been carrying out excavation work when they hit an adjoining area full of water.

The water inside the mine has receded only about 9.5 meters from the initial 34 meters, authorities told relatives Saturday, and divers have been unable to enter.

Source: AFP