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25 February, 2026Twenty years after the industrial homicide at Pasta de Conchos that claimed 65 miners’ lives, families are still demanding justice. Not all the bodies were recovered and Grupo México has never taken full responsibility. A new legislative initiative seeks to reform the law to include criminal liability for individuals in cases of industrial homicide, aiming to prevent tragedies like Pasta de Conchos.
The disaster at the Pasta de Conchos mine in Coahuila killed 65 Grupo México miners working in high-risk conditions. Workers had repeatedly reported serious safety failures, including inadequate ventilation, methane gas build-up and lack of essential equipment. Although the company insisted the mine was safe, later investigations and testimonies pointed to dangerous conditions. Grupo México denied responsibility from the outset and suspended rescue efforts after five days, leaving 63 miners trapped underground.
MP Jesús Jiménez recently presented a bill to the House of Commons in Mexico to incorporate the concept of “industrial homicide” into the Penal Code, with the aim of holding companies criminally accountable for worker deaths resulting from serious breaches of industrial safety and occupational health regulations. The proposal seeks to establish legal mechanisms to prevent similar industrial tragedies.
The initiative was originally drafted by Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, general secretary of IndustriALL affiliate Los Mineros, to ensure corporate responsibility is not diluted through administrative procedures. Gómez Urrutia has also called for the immediate rescue of the workers, an objective, independent and neutral investigation to determine the causes and punish those responsible with the full force of the law, and — in cases of death — fair and dignified compensation for the families.
Gómez Urrutia explained to Mexican publication La Jornada:
“The aim is to strengthen the legal framework so that the corporate obligation to guarantee safety does not remain a dead letter and that, when negligence leads to death, there are clear criminal consequences. It is about transforming the world of work into a fairer and more dignified one, where the lives of workers are worth more than any profit, gain or financial balance sheet. (…) Pasta de Conchos cannot be forgotten or abandoned.”
IndustriALL General Secretary Atle Høie said:
“Twenty years after the tragic industrial homicide in Pasta de Conchos, Mexico, justice has still not been done for the 65 victims and their families. Grupo México has not assumed its responsibilities and the country has not honoured their sacrifice by creating legislation that guarantees corporate accountability, at least not yet. The new legislation must create safe mining and functioning chains of responsibility. The 65 miners who lost their lives and their families deserve this respect, as do all mining communities in Mexico.”