Reuters AlertNet Lite - Mexico mine disaster trial ends with damages payout

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Mexico mine disaster trial ends with damages payout

18 Apr 2007 05:04:42 GMT
Source: Reuters

MEXICO CITY, April 17 (Reuters) - A manslaughter trial for a Mexican coal mine explosion that killed 65 men last year has ended after one of the defendants paid damages to the victims families, a mining company executive said on Tuesday.

The payment of about $16,500 to each family ends the legal case against the five executives of the mine's owner Grupo Mexico, a spokesman for the firm said.

"The judge has accepted the payment of damages," said spokesman Oscar Kaufmann.

Under Coahuila state law, manslaughter charges can be answered by paying damages without the defendants accepting guilt.

The case had been brought by the state of Coahuila, the site of the Feb. 19 disaster at the Pasta de Conchos mine. The state prosecutors charged the employees of Grupo Mexico were negligent in ensuring coal miners safety.

Only two bodies have been recovered since the blast.

Industrial Minera Mexico, the Grupo Mexico <GMEXICOB.MX> subsidiary that ran the mine, says that conditions are so dangerous below ground that it may be impossible to keep searching for bodies.

Prosecutors said the company allowed a deadly mix of methane, heat and oxygen to build up in the mine and failed to build proper ventilation shafts.

Grupo Mexico said Tuesday's total outlay of about $11 million, paid by an insurance company, did not mean the mining firm assumed responsibility for the accident.

Kaufmann said the firm also paid each family a one-off sum of close to $70,000 after the accident, plus the equivalent of three full-time salaries each month since then.

The federal attorney general's office is conducting a separate investigation of the accident, but has so far not brought charges.

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Last updated:Wed Apr 18 05:05:54 2007