Mexico mine blast victims still buried one year on

PASTA DE CONCHOS, Mexico, Feb 20 (Reuters) Dozens of poor Mexicans wept, prayed and sounded sirens to mark the first anniversary of a coal mine blast that killed 65 men, most of whom have never been recovered from underground.

Yesterday Families of the victims read the names of the dead and released white balloons into the freezing darkness at the mine in Coahuila state, near the Texan border, at 2:05 a m (1335 hrs IST), the exact time of the explosion.

One woman collapsed from grief as police stood watch to quell any unrest among victims' relatives incensed at the failure to find more than two bodies and the lack of legal action against mine owners Grupo Mexico.

Across Mexico, thousands of unionized miners plan to hold a one-day strike from 7 a m (1830 hrs IST) yesterday to pressure the government to punish Grupo Mexico, the country's top miner.

''I won't rest until I have my boy back, until I can bury my child,'' said Rosa Maria Ramos as she laid flowers for her son Jose at a shrine showing photographs of the dead. ''We all feel the same pain as we did a year ago,'' she added as her family stood by a banner near the mine reading: ''We miss you daddy.'' COMPANY BLAMED Jorge Rios, Coahuila state's special prosecutor, blamed Grupo Mexico for allowing a deadly mix of methane, heat and oxygen to build up in the mine, failing to build proper ventilation shafts or neutralize explosive coal dust.

''It was a tragedy waiting to happen,'' Rios said.

''We are talking about a very rudimentary mine with huge lapses in safety standards made worse by corrupt inspectors who didn't enforce the necessary security,'' he said, adding that government inspectors declared the mine safe on February 9, 2006.

Rios said he would urge judges to arrest five Grupo Mexico employees and six Labor Ministry officials within the next two months on manslaughter charges that carry prison sentences.

Grupo Mexico, one of Latin America's biggest miners, says the blast was an unfortunate accident and has compensated victims' families, spending 30 million dollars on trying to find the 63 remaining miners. The mine may never reopen.

''The company met safety norms, but doing so can never be an exact science,'' said a source close to Grupo Mexico who requested anonymity. ''The company is more eager than anyone to know what really happened,'' the source added.

The miners were buried by thousands of tonnes of rock when the blast collapsed the mine, making it very difficult to reach their bodies. Investigators have said many of the men may have been incinerated as the explosion sent temperatures soaring to 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit.

REUTERS SY KN0839