Rescuers on Saturday paused the search for eight miners trapped in a collapsed gold mine in southern Honduras, as hopes of finding the men alive faded.
“We suspended the search, but will continue on Sunday, exploring through another tunnel,” said geologist Anibal Godoy, who is heading the rescue operation.
“Let’s see if it’s possible at least to retrieve the bodies,” Godoy told reporters.
Photo: EPA
Eleven miners were trapped on Wednesday in a cave-in at the unlicensed San Juan mine in the department of Choluteca, about 160km south of the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa
The workers were caught at a depth of 80m and rescuers on Friday freed three of them, with the trio emerging dehydrated and exhausted.
The men escaped through a narrow gap between rocks with the help of rescuers, cheered on by relatives gathered around the tunnel.
However, Godoy said that it was “impossible to continue digging” in that tunnel because the risk of a collapse “is too high.”
Rescuers were to try to reach the miners through another tunnel yesterday, but only if it is stable enough, he said.
Chile said that it would send three experts with experience in rescuing the 33 men trapped deep inside an Atacama Desert mine for 69 days in 2010, but Godoy said it was already too late.
“There is little hope for the others,” he said.
Rescuers “can come from China, from wherever — the operation is very complicated,” he said.
Another rescue coordinator, Hugo Rodriguez, told local media that even though there is a stench in the tunnel, “the last thing that we can say is that these people are dead.”
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