Rescue teams are searching for at least seven workers who are trapped in a Mexican mine that collapsed due to flooding.
Family members are waiting anxiously at the mine in Coahuila, in the north east of Mexico, for news from the authorities with the accident taking place around midday local time.
Local authorities have said that the mine is flooded and that the workers are in tunnels.
There has been heavy rain in the area over the past 48 hours and Francisco Contreras, assistant operations chief of the local Civil Defense, told El Financiero that pumps are being used to drain the mine.
He said efforts were under way to rescue the miners and to investigate what caused the collapse.
Around 200 people are involved in the rescue attempt for the miners who have been named as Leopoldo Mendez, 20; Damian Robles, 27; Gonzalo Cruz, 53; Mauricio Cortes, Humberto Rodríguez, 40; Pedro Ramírez and Francisco Briseno, 24.
“With the aim of helping the local authorities after the collapse of the mine in Muzquiz, Coahuila, National Guard personnel […] have gone to area to provide security and help the rescue teams reach the trapped workers,” said a statement from the National Guard.
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It is reported that two workers, Orlando and Pedro Sanchez, managed to escape before the mine collapsed and they raised the alarm.
The area has one of the lowest populations in Mexico with the mines a key source of income.
Tragedy struck in a Coahuila mine in February, 2006, when an explosion led to 65 workers being trapped and only two bodies were able to be later recovered.