“Plan underway to recover bodies of 63 miners lost in Coahuila disaster”, 19^th February 2020

…On the 14th anniversary of an explosion at a Coahuila coal mine that killed 65 miners, Labor Minister Luisa María Alcalde outlined on Wednesday the progress made in preparations to recover the bodies of 63 of the miners and the steps that still need to be taken.

A methane explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine in the municipality of San Juan de Sabinas killed all of the miners working the night shift in the early hours of February 19, 2006. The explosion trapped the miners underground and only two bodies were ever recovered.

For years, relatives of the victims pleaded for efforts to be made to retrieve the other bodies but the mine owner, Grupo México, insisted that conditions were too dangerous to do so. However, President López Obrador wouldn’t be deterred, announcing on May 1 – International Workers’ Day – last year that he had ordered a recovery operation…

Grupo México, the country’s largest mining company, announced that it would cede the concession for the Pasta de Conchos mine to the government in order to facilitate the recovery efforts.

In a statement sent to the Mexican Stock Exchange, the company said that it was relinquishing control of the mine in response to a request from López Obrador.