Four bodies of the seven miners who were trapped in a coal mine in Coahuila have been recovered.

The rescue effort for the remaining three has been jeopardized by landslides blocking access to part of the mine.

The accident occurred on Friday at the Micarán mine in Múzquiz after some heavy rainfall in the area.

Governor Miguel Ángel Riquelme explained the complications caused by the landslides. “There were tunnels where they were able to take shelter, but … it became impossible due to how the current entered,” he said.

“Oxygen is an issue due to the time that has already passed,” he added, lowering expectations of there being any survivors.

The small-scale mine is about 800 meters long and 100 meters deep, a deep and narrow open coal pit with steep sides, according to the Associated Press.

In 2006 a methane explosion claimed the lives of 65 miners at the Pasta de Conchos mine. The organization Family Pasta de Conchos, formed by relatives of the victims, alerted authorities about the conditions of the Micarán mine in October last year, in a letter to the director of the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

On Saturday they claimed that the commission ignored the information. Later, the commission denied that the mine was one of its suppliers.

With reports from El Universal (sp), Forbes México (sp)