Overview
- CNPC said Wednesday that mud higher than 1.5 meters and water at the tunnel roof now block safe entry, so crews moved to a stabilization plan with constant pumping, containment walls, exploratory boreholes and structural reinforcement.
- Rescue teams report more than 160 hours of nonstop work and over 3.2 kilometers of ramps and tunnels checked, with resources concentrated in a priority zone crews call Zone 0.
- One of the four, José Alejandro Cástulo Colín, was pulled out alive around 12:25 a.m. Monday, March 30, airlifted to Mazatlán and later discharged home, while Francisco Zapata, Abraham Aguilera and Leandro Veltrán remain missing.
- A unified command has mobilized federal and state responders, Army and Navy units, the CFE power utility and private mining brigades, plus a 40‑person specialized team from Jalisco that joined to support round‑the‑clock operations.
- The collapse on March 25 followed a tailings dam failure that sent thick mine waste into deep galleries about 300 meters down, a surge that floods passages with heavy sludge instead of dry rock, which explains why pumping, barriers and drilling are now central to any safe approach.