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No sign of fourth miner as rescue mission in Sinaloa enters second month

MND Staff
By MND Staff
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Two miners have been rescued from a mine in Sinaloa where a tailings dam collapsed in late March, and one other miner was found dead. The search continues for a fourth miner.
Two miners have been rescued from a mine in Sinaloa where a tailings dam collapsed in late March, and one other miner was found dead. The search continues for a fourth miner. (Coordinación Nacional de Protección Civil/Cuartoscuro)

Two miners have been rescued from a mine in Sinaloa where a tailings dam collapsed in late March, and one other miner was found dead. But almost a month after the March 25 disaster at the Santa Fe silver and gold mine in the municipality of El Rosario, a fourth miner still hasn’t been located.

Álvaro Vargas Miranda, administrative manager of the company that operates the mine, said on Tuesday that attempts to find mine supervisor Leandro Isidro Beltrán Reséndiz have been unsuccessful.

Francisco Zapara Nájera, 42, was rescued alive from the mine on April 8, 2026. He is one of two survivors of the collapse that occurred on March 25.
Francisco Zapara Nájera, 42, was rescued alive from the mine on April 8, 2026. He is one of two survivors of the collapse that occurred on March 25. (Coordinación Nacional de Protección Civil/Cuartoscuro)

Vargas said that rescuers have only managed to find parts of the mining utility vehicle used by Beltrán, a 50-year-old miner originally from the state of Hidalgo.

Efforts to locate the missing mine supervisor are ongoing, and an emergency response battalion of the Mexican Army remains hopeful that he can be found alive. Aldo Córdoba Galicia, the battalion’s operations chief, said that the battalion is searching for Beltrán 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We’re doing three shifts … looking for the fourth worker,” he told the newspaper El Universal.

Four Belgian shepherds are assisting the army battalion in their search efforts. Córdoba said that all rescue operations involve risk, but stressed that the risks his battalion takes are “calculated.”

Vargas highlighted that efforts to rescue trapped miners began immediately after the collapse of the tailings dam occurred. Authorities of all three levels of government have participated in the search efforts.

The first miner rescued was 44-year-old José Alejandro Cáustulo, who was pulled from the mine on March 29.

Vargas said that the first thing Cáustulo said after his rescue was, “I want a cigarette.”

Another miner, 42-year-old Francisco Zapata Nájera, was rescued on April 8. He was located at a depth of 300 meters surrounded by large quantities of water. A third miner, 33-year-old Abraham Aguilera, was found dead.

The Santa Fe mine is operated by Industrial Minera Sinaloa. It is located in the town of Chele, which is about 70 kilometers east of Mazatlán.

With reports from La Jornada and El Universal

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