In brief
After fourteen harrowing days trapped 300 meters below ground in a flooded tunnel, Francisco Zapata Nájera was successfully rescued by Mexican army divers. Initially separated from a group of twenty-five miners, Zapata showed remarkable faith during his ordeal. The rescue operation faced difficult conditions due to rising water levels, which required extensive efforts to safely extract him to the surface. While Zapata has been reunited with his family, ongoing concerns remain for another miner still unaccounted for.
Mexican army divers have rescued a miner from a flooded underground tunnel two weeks after he was first trapped. Francisco Zapata Nájera, 42, was stuck 300m (985ft) below ground after an embankment collapsed at a gold mine in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa. Video of the rescue shows him standing in waist-deep water, telling his rescuers that he never lost faith during his ordeal.The search continues for another miner who is still missing. Twenty-five workers were inside the gold mine when the tailings dam - a structure which holds mining waste - burst on 25 March. Twenty-one managed to get out, but four were trapped.José Alejandro Cástulo was rescued after five days underground, and another miner died, but it took rescuers a full 13 days to locate Francisco Zapata. Following more than 300 hours of searching, divers finally spotted the blinking of the miner's torch light, which Zapata had turned on and off to alert them to his location.Once identified, divers approached Zapata, reassuring him with their presence and thanking him for signaling them. 'I didn't lose faith,' he told the rescuers. However, due to flooding in the tunnel leading to his location, the divers couldn't immediately extract him. They provided him with supplies before returning to lower the water levels.After 20 more hours, the rescue teams managed to reduce the flooding enough to extract Zapata safely. Wrapped in a thermal blanket and sitting on an electric cart, he emerged from the mine and was taken by helicopter to a hospital, where he reunited with his family. Doctors confirmed he was frail but stable, and he would receive the needed treatment.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum praised the Mexican army and Zapata's faith and resilience, emphasizing that both contributed to the success of the 'astounding rescue.'