Miners trapped after explosion in Mexico

An explosion in a coal mine in northern Mexico has trapped five miners, officials say.

The explosion occurred on Wednesday morning (local time) in Muzquiz, in the coal-mining state of Coahuila, said civil protection representative Juan Antonio Ibarra.

"We have no information as to whether they are alive or injured," Ibarra said.

Emergency services are now attempting to free the trapped miners, he added.

Ibarra said a pocket of gas likely caused the explosion that occurred between 60 and 70m underground.

The coal mine is privately operated by a man called Federico Quintanilla, Ibarra said.

Coal mines in Coahuila are famously unsafe. A 2006 methane explosion in a Piedras Negras mine killed 65 miners.

 

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