Hope fading for young brothers trapped in cave

Heavy rains forced rescuers to suspend attempts to save two young brothers who have been trapped for more than four days in a deep Mexican cave.

Locals who gathered near the mouth of the cave protested as workers packed up and left, but exhausted crews were working under conditions of almost zero-visibility because of the rain, said Mexican Red Cross Commander Arturo Montero.

Public safety official Horacio Schroeder said they were losing hope of finding the victims alive.

“Our last hope is we get to them,” he said. “But the opposite could also come to pass.”

He said state teams had moved very close to where the brothers were trapped, but were disheartened by the fact they no longer heard their voices.

Earlier rescue teams used heavy machinery from Mexico’s state-run oil company to widen the mouth of the 80-foot-deep cavern through which Pascual Saraos Jimenez, five, and his six-year-old brother Miguel disappeared on Sunday night.

The children have been without food and water for more than four days in the cave in Mexico’s southernmost state, Chiapas.

Earlier, Montero said rescue workers had heard the boys speaking to each other in their native Indian Tzeltal language. But as the Red Cross left the scene late last night, he said the chances of finding both boys alive were slim.