Deep underground, Mexican coal miners remember those who never came back

Deep underground, Mexican coal miners remember those who never came back

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Each time Juan Briones descends deep into the ground of northern Mexico to dig for coal he knows he must balance earning a living and avoiding death.

In August, his brother-in-law was one of 10 miners trapped in the nearby coal mine of El Pinabete as water broke through a shaft wall and flooded the tunnels the men were working in. Nearly two months later, their bodies have still not been recovered.

Miners know the risks, Briones said, but often feel they have no choice.

. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril
Briones walks through the entrance of a coal mine.

"You have the need to survive, to take care of your family," the 35-year-old said in a recent interview at his home after his wife helped scrub off the black dust that had settled into his skin after a day in a sweltering mine.

Briones has four sons, aged 6, 8, 10 and 15.

Even before the El Pinabete mine disaster, he urged his eldest, who has left school, to avoid the risky work to which he has dedicated the past two decades of his life.

. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril
Miguel Angel Robles, 25, helps Juan Antonio Bartolo, 33, while they work inside a coal mine.

"It's a really tough job, especially because of the accidents," he said. "I didn't want the same thing to happen to him, where he goes to work in the mines with the risks."

Briones, who began in the mines when he was just 14, works dozens of meters below ground with a helmet, gloves and steel-toed boots for protection, on alert for tumbling rocks, faulty pulleys, toxic gas and underground flooding.

. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril
Briones kisses his wife Alicia Tijerina, 26, before leaving his house to go to work in a coal mine.

When he first goes down, he sometimes feels as if he can't breathe. He emerges later drenched in sweat.

Briones lives in the town of Sabinas in the border state of Coahuila, where jobs are scarce. He feels he has few options that can match the roughly $150 he takes home a week.

His brother-in-law, Hugo Tijerina, had encouraged him to work at El Pinabete. But Briones turned it down, saying he feared that giant pools of water in abandoned mines nearby could break through and flood it - which is just what happened Aug. 3 when excavation work caused a tunnel wall to collapse. Efforts to pump out the mine and rescue the miners ultimately failed.

. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril
An aerial view shows miners standing on a pile of coal during their shift at a coal mine.

The disaster highlighted the dangers workers endure at small, unregulated mines in Mexico's coal heartland where people like Briones are hired informally and paid in cash to extract coal that formed in the earth in the Cretaceous period millions of years ago.

El Pinabete, one of the many Coahuila mines tapped to provide coal to Mexico's state power utility, had not been visited by labor inspectors, Reuters reported last month. Mexican law does not require such mines to be inspected before opening.

. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril
Miners prepare to go down into a coal mine.

It was not the first tragedy at a Coahuila mine. In 2006, an explosion at the Pasta de Conchos mine killed 65 men. Only two bodies were recovered.

Briones' taut, lean frame belies the strength he possesses to work up to eight hours a day, wielding a pneumatic air gun to blast the rock and a shovel and cart to lug coal through underground tunnels.

. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril
Miners are lifted out of a coal mine on a steel container.

He can earn 2,700 pesos ($135) hoisting 18 tons of coal above ground a week. The pay rises to 3,300 pesos ($165) if he can deliver an extra two tons – an incentive to push his body harder and faster.

Briones, who wears a silver dangly crucifix earring, a reminder of his deep Catholic faith, trades playful barbs with fellow workers to make the hours pass faster.

. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril
A miner walks away from the entrance of a coal mine where he works after ending his shift.

Still, he stays alert for dangers. As he goes down into the darkness he thinks of his wife's brother and the other nine who never returned.

"You're always scared of not coming back," Briones said. "When I'm working, down below, I remember all of them."

(Photography and reporting by Daniel Becerril; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Photo editing by Eve Watling and Gabrielle Fonseca Johnson; Text editing by Rosalba O'Brien; Layout by Eve Watling)

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Slideshow

Briones looks on during his shift inside a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Briones looks on during his shift inside a coal mine.

Bartolo pushes a wheelbarrow filled with minerals extracted from inside a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Bartolo pushes a wheelbarrow filled with minerals extracted from inside a coal mine.

A miner pushes a wheelbarrow filled with mineral extracted from a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

A miner pushes a wheelbarrow filled with mineral extracted from a coal mine.

Miners converse during their shift inside a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Miners converse during their shift inside a coal mine.

Bartolo and Francisco Javier Arellano, 30, take a short rest during their shift inside a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Bartolo and Francisco Javier Arellano, 30, take a short rest during their shift inside a coal mine.

Miner Eduardo Flores Sanchez, 44, who has a tattoo which says "Hecho en Mexico" ("Made in Mexico"), prepares to go down to work in a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Miner Eduardo Flores Sanchez, 44, who has a tattoo which says "Hecho en Mexico" ("Made in Mexico"), prepares to go down to work in a coal mine.

Briones smokes a cigarette after ending his shift.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Briones smokes a cigarette after ending his shift.

Arellano waits his turn to go down into a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Arellano waits his turn to go down into a coal mine.

Briones checks his air drill before starting work in a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Briones checks his air drill before starting work in a coal mine.

Miners Miguel Tarango, 43, and Briones work together to fix an air drill at a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Miners Miguel Tarango, 43, and Briones work together to fix an air drill at a coal mine.

Briones takes a rest after ending his shift at the coal mine where he works.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Briones takes a rest after ending his shift at the coal mine where he works.

Arellano washes his face after ending his shift at a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Arellano washes his face after ending his shift at a coal mine.

An aerial view shows the exterior of a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

An aerial view shows the exterior of a coal mine.

Miners Luis Felipe Martinez, 47, and Eduardo Isai Flores Maldonado, 18, separate stones from coal before it is transported to be sold, at a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Miners Luis Felipe Martinez, 47, and Eduardo Isai Flores Maldonado, 18, separate stones from coal before it is transported to be sold, at a coal mine.

A miner holds a piece of coal that was extracted from a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

A miner holds a piece of coal that was extracted from a coal mine.

Miner Felipe Macias, 35, receives his weekly pay from mine manager Jorge Luis Gonzalez Villanueva, 42, at a coal mine where they work.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Miner Felipe Macias, 35, receives his weekly pay from mine manager Jorge Luis Gonzalez Villanueva, 42, at a coal mine where they work.

Briones prepares to take a shower after coming home from work at a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Briones prepares to take a shower after coming home from work at a coal mine.

Briones poses for a portrait after showering at his house.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Briones poses for a portrait after showering at his house.

Briones rests on the porch of his house with his family after ending his shift at a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Briones rests on the porch of his house with his family after ending his shift at a coal mine.

Briones looks at his cellphone as he rests at home.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Briones looks at his cellphone as he rests at home.

Briones (center) waits with other miners for transportation to work in a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Briones (center) waits with other miners for transportation to work in a coal mine.

Miners walk before they go down to work in a coal mine.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Miners walk before they go down to work in a coal mine.

Miner Ismael Maldonado (center), 32, waits near the entrance of a coal mine before starting his shift.
. Sabinas, Mexico. Reuters/Daniel Becerril

Miner Ismael Maldonado (center), 32, waits near the entrance of a coal mine before starting his shift.