In a remarkable survival story, Francisco Zapata Nájera, a 42-year-old gold miner, was rescued after spending 14 days trapped underground in a flooded mine in Sinaloa, northern Mexico. The incident occurred on March 25, 2026, when a tailings dam burst, flooding the mine and leaving 25 workers inside. While 21 workers managed to escape, four were trapped. After five days, one miner was found, but Zapata remained missing for nearly two weeks. His rescue came after 300 hours of searching, during which he used a flashlight to signal his location. When rescuers reached him, he was standing in waist-deep water and expressed his unwavering faith during the ordeal. Once located, rescuers provided him with drinking water and food before safely extracting him after lowering the water level in the tunnel. He was subsequently flown to a hospital and reunited with his family, where doctors reported he was weak but stable.