DESPERATE families were holding a vigil yesterday outside a Mexican coalmine where 65 men are said to be trapped almost 1,000ft underground after a gas explosion.

Hopes of finding any survivors were fading even though a round-the-clock rescue mission continued more than a day after the accident.

The miners had been carrying only six hours of oxygen supplies when the explosion occurred early on Sunday. No contact had been made with the men, who are trapped up to three miles from the entrance to the mine near the town of San Juan de Sabinas, southwest of the US border.

On Sunday night family members huddled near bonfires and wrapped themselves in blankets. Some pitched tents and others slept in plastic chairs. As the sun rose yesterday, they sipped coffee while venting their frustration and fear.

Officials were keeping them back from the rescue site. “What we want is for them to tell us what is happening and if they have advanced or not,” said Francisco Ordoñez, 41, whose brother, José Alfredo Ordoñez, 23, and a cousin were still trapped in the mine.

“People are starting to get desperate.”

Norma Vitela, 53, heard about the explosion on the radio and came to find out what had happened to her husband, José Ángel Guzman, 47. A father of four, Señor Guzman had worked in the mine for 16 years, earning 800 pesos (£44) a week.

“They always said the mine was bad. (My husband) said it smelt heavily of gas, but they did nothing. They told the miners everything was fine. Now we are waiting for a miracle from God,” said Señora Vitela, who added that her husband could not afford to quit his job.

Sergio Robles, director of Coahuila state’s emergency services, said that rescuers had advanced 400 yards into the mine after more than 24 hours. But efforts were being slowed by the presence of toxic gases.

When asked if officials believed that the miners had survived the explosion, the rescue chief said: “It would be difficult because of the presence of gas. But we are holding out hope of finding someone alive.”

Juan Rebolledo, vice-president of international affairs for Grupo Mexico, which owns the mine, said that oxygen tanks were scattered throughout the site, but it was impossible to know if the trapped miners had access to any of them.

Several rescue teams were taking turns at carefully removing debris that had clogged the shaft.

Consuelo Aguilar, a National Miners’ Union spokeswoman, said that there had been concern over safety conditions in Grupo Mexico mines.

“We have pressured for better safety conditions as well as for better pay at the mines,” she said.

Señor Rebolledo said that safety conditions at the mine met Mexican government requirements as well as international standards: “We follow all the best safety procedures, but accidents can always happen.”

There have been fatal mining accidents in Coahuila before. The worst was in 1969 when more than 150 miners died in a pit at the village of Barroteran.

Last month 12 miners died in after being trapped by an explosion near Tallmansville, West Virginia. The news received huge media coverage in the United States. Yesterday’s events in Mexico, by contrast, stirred little interest north of the border.

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