Overview
- Rescuers brought Francisco Zapata Nájera out alive Wednesday after nearly 14 days underground, and he was flown by a Mexican Air Force helicopter to a hospital in Mazatlán.
- The disaster began March 25 when a tailings dam that holds mine waste failed at the El Rosario/Santa Fe site in Sinaloa, rapidly flooding tunnels and trapping four workers as 21 others escaped.
- Military divers located Zapata Nájera on Tuesday but had to wait as crews pumped out water for about 20 hours before they could extract him.
- Another miner was rescued five days after the collapse from about 985 feet down, while officials later confirmed one death and said one miner is still missing.
- Authorities point to past Mexican mining tragedies, including the 2022 El Pinabete flooding and the 2006 Pasta de Conchos explosion, as evidence of persistent safety and oversight problems.