Trapped Miner Survives Without Food, Water For 14 Days Before Being Rescued In Heart-Stopping Video

Last Updated:April 13, 2026, 2:55 PM IST

In a feat of human endurance that has stunned the world, a trapped miner has been pulled from the depths after surviving 14 days in total darkness

Trapped 300 Metres Below Ground, Miner Survives Without Food, Water For Two Weeks Before Rescue | Video

A gold miner in Mexico was rescued alive after being trapped deep underground for nearly two weeks. The incident took place after part of a mine collapsed and flooded the area, leaving several workers stuck.

As reported by the BBC, one of the miners, Francisco Zapata Nájera, survived in tough conditions nearly 300 metres below the surface. His rescue has drawn attention due to the long search and the way he managed to stay hopeful during the ordeal.

Miner Trapped After Mine Collapse

Francisco Zapata Nájera, 42, was trapped around 300 metres below ground after an embankment collapsed at a gold mine in Sinaloa, northern Mexico. The accident happened on March 25 when a tailings dam, which holds mining waste, burst and flooded parts of the mine.

At the time, 25 workers were inside. While 21 managed to escape, four were left trapped underground.

Rescue teams began searching immediately. One miner, José Alejandro Cástulo, was found after five days. Sadly, another miner lost his life. Zapata, however, remained missing for nearly two weeks.

After more than 300 hours of searching, rescuers finally spotted a small blinking light. It was coming from Zapata’s torch, which he switched on and off to help them find him.

Rescue Team Finally Reaches Him

When the divers reached him, he was standing in waist-deep water inside the flooded tunnel. Despite the difficult conditions, he was alive and able to speak. “How are you, how are you?” rescuers asked as they reached him, as quoted by the BBC.

Once they confirmed who they were, they told him, “Your torchlight helped us a lot”. “It guided us,” one of the divers added. “I didn’t lose faith, I didn’t lose faith,” Zapata told his rescuers, as per the BBC.

Even after finding him, the team could not bring him out right away because the tunnel was still filled with water. They left him with drinking water, tuna cans, and energy bars, promising to return soon.

Over the next 20 hours, rescue teams used pumps to lower the water level. Only after that could they safely bring him out.

Zapata was later taken out of the mine, wrapped in a thermal blanket and placed on an electric cart. He was then flown by helicopter to a hospital, where he met his family. Doctors said he was weak but stable and would receive treatment.

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