MEXICO CITY, Feb. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The 200 rescuers working at the site of a Mexican mine collapse have heard nothing from the estimated 65 miners expected to be below the surface, local authorities told Xinhua on Monday.

    They said that rescue work was hampered by the risk of gas explosions, like the one that triggered the collapse in the early hours of Sunday morning at the Pasta de Conchos mine in San Juan de Sabinas, also known as Nuevo Rosita, a town of some 40,000 citizens, in Coahuila state, some 900 km north of Mexico City.

    Reports said that rescuers have already rescued between 13 and 15 miners, up to six of whom were suffering fractures and burns, and were transferred to the Nueva Rosita hospital some 120 km fromthe U.S. border.

    The trapped miners have now been 30 hours without communicationwith the surface and every hour makes their survival and rescue less likely, authorities said.

    Friends and family of the trapped miners are holding a vigil atthe mine gates, hoping for news, praying for their family members and singing to lighten the tense wait.

    Humberto Moreira, the governor of Coahuila, is in San Juan de Sabinas to supervise rescue work, which is being carried out by hand, for fear that machinery could trigger an explosion.

    The rescuers have now dug 350 meters without finding a new miner. The mine reaches 2,000 meters at its deepest point. Enditem