Chile's trapped miners finally set to escape

[yellow people]

Chile's trapped miners finally set to escape

Janet Ramirez (L), sister-in-law of trapped miner Mario Gomez, embraces her daughter Leslie Torres in front of a bonfire in Camp Esperanza (Hope) at the San Jose mine in Copiapo October 11, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Mariana Bazo

By Cesar Illiano and Terry Wade

COPIAPO, Chile | Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:49am EDT

COPIAPO, Chile (Reuters) - Chile's 33 trapped miners are set to travel nearly half a mile through solid rock in a shaft just wider than a man's shoulders on Tuesday night, as their two month ordeal after a cave-in draws to an end. The men have spent 68 days in the hot, humid bowels of a small gold and copper mine in Chile's far northern Atacama desert after an August 5 collapse, and now face a harrowingly claustrophobic journey to the surface in specially-made capsules. Wives, children, parents and friends are waiting on an arid, rocky hillside around 2,050 feet (625-meters) directly above them at a tent settlement dubbed "Camp Hope." An entire nation, still recovering from a devastating February earthquake, is ready to celebrate.

"Right now I'm calm, though still very anxious. I hope my nerves don't betray me when the rescue starts," said Jessica Salgado, whose husband Alex is trapped below, as the sun rose over the camp. "The first thing I'm going to do is hug him hard, tell him how much I love him, and how I've missed him all this time," she added. She said Mining Minister Laurence Golborne had told the men's relatives that rescuers could start to raise them from the depths a few hours before his Tuesday midnight (11 p.m. EDT on Tuesday night) estimate.

RELATIVES' VIGILS

Many miners' relatives staged vigils as the climax neared. Noemi Donoso, whose 43-year-old son-in-law Samuel Avalos is among the trapped, sat praying in a tent with four family members, their hands joined together to form a circle, singing hymns and chanting "hallelujah" and "glory to God." Her daughter had just left to have her hair done in a makeshift hairdressers in another of the camp's tents. "She went to the salon to get fixed up so she can look pretty when she receives him," Donoso said, as excited school children ran around the camp with face paint on.

Rescuers on Monday successfully tested a capsule, dubbed "Phoenix" after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes, after they partially lined the narrow escape duct with metal tubes to avoid any last-minute disasters. They originally found the men, miraculously all alive, 17 days after the collapse with a bore hole the width of grapefruit, which then became an umbilical cord used to pass hydration gels, water and food to keep them alive during one of the world's most ambitious rescue operations.

The men have set a world record for the length of time workers have survived underground after a mining accident, and have been doing exercises to keep their weight down for their ascent. It has been an agonizing wait. "We are doing better now. We are almost there," said Gaston Henriquez, who has camped out near the mine entrance since the beginning of the ordeal, waiting for his brother Jose to escape. Once the evacuations start, it will take 48 hours to extract the men. Four rescuers will be lowered to help the miners prepare to return to the surface.

Each man's journey to the surface should take about 12 to 15 minutes. The miners will have their eyes closed and will immediately be given dark glasses to avoid damaging their eyesight after spending so long in a dimly lit tunnel. President Sebastian Pinera, who ordered a revamp of mine safety regulations in the wake of the accident, plans to visit the mine on Tuesday. One of the 33 miners is a Bolivian national and Bolivian President Evo Morales has vowed to visit the mine for his rescue.

(Additional reporting by Antonio de la Jara, Juana Casas and Brad Haynes in Santiago and Santiago Silva in Quito; Writing by Simon Gardner; Editing by Vicki Allen)

 

[singveld]

The first miner to emerge from the underground chamber where he and 32 colleagues had been trapped for more than two months was Florencio Avalos. As his family looked on, the first to embrace him was the Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.

 

[singveld]

The only foreign miner, Bolivian miner Carlos Mamani Solis, was among the first to be released from the collapsed gold and copper mine.

 

[Valkyrie]

More Chilean miners freed in "miracle" rescue work


More Chilean miners freed in "miracle" rescue work

By Cesar Illiano and Terry Wade
COPIAPO, Chile | Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:01am EDT

COPIAPO, Chile (Reuters) - The first several of Chile's 33 trapped miners were hoisted to safety in a capsule barely wider than a man's shoulders on Wednesday, cheering, punching the air and hugging their families after two months deep underground. "This is a miracle from God," said Alberto Avalos, the first rescued miner's elated uncle, who rushed to the rescue capsule as it arrived on the surface. As dawn broke over the gold and copper mine in Chile's northern Atacama desert, eight men had been liberated from the abyss in a methodical rescue operation in which the first miner was brought to the surface shortly after midnight.

Rescuers, relatives and friends broke into jubilant cheers as the miners, one by one, emerged from the mine. Florencio Avalos, a father of two, was the first to emerge to breathe his first fresh air in 69 days after a claustrophobic ascent of around 2,050 feet through rock. Hugged and kissed by relatives, the 31-year-old Avalos looked very healthy following a nearly 16-minute journey to safety. He was then embraced by President Sebastian Pinera as the surrounding crowd chanted "Chile! Viva Chile!"

Next up was fellow miner Mario Sepulveda, whose whoops of joy resounded on the surface even before he arrived to the laughs of waiting relatives. He stepped out of the capsule with a yellow bag, reached in and pulled out souvenir rocks from below, and slapped one in Pinera's hand. "I'm so happy!" Sepulveda yelled, grinning, punching his fist in the air and hugging everyone in sight. However, he also sounded a darkly serious note.

GOD AND THE DEVIL

"I have been with God and I've been with the devil," he later said in an interview, calling for deep change to protect workers rights. Then came Juan Illanes, who called the trip to the surface a "cruise." Each of the men wore dark glasses to protect their eyes after spending so long in the dimly lit tunnel below. Like wives on the surface who had their hair and nails done for the occasion, the men looked groomed and clean-shaven.

The miners have spent a record 69 days in the hot, humid bowels of the gold and copper mine in Chile's northern Atacama desert since it caved in on August 5. Rescuers expect to bring all the remaining men to safety over the next two days. For the first 17 days of their ordeal, the miners were all believed to be dead. Their story of survival and the extraordinary rescue operation have captured the world's attention.

After weeks of drilling a narrow shaft down to the miners and preparing the special capsules, the final stage began when a rescuer descended the shaft on Tuesday night. He was hugged by the waiting miners when he reached their tunnel deep in the mine, and he then took just minutes to buckle Avalos into the capsule and send him to the surface. The men, who set a new record for the length of time workers have survived underground after a mining accident, have been exercising to keep their weight down for their ascent.

Nervous wives, children, parents and friends waited on an arid, rocky hillside above the San Jose mine waiting for the men to be evacuated. The specially made steel cages are equipped with oxygen masks and escape hatches in case they get stuck. Rescuers were finally able to deploy the capsule, dubbed "Phoenix" after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes, after reinforcing part of the narrow escape shaft with metal casing to prevent rocks from falling and blocking the exit.

Engineers said the final stage of the rescue still has its risks but that the capsule was handling well in the shaft, and they expected a smooth extraction. Each man's journey to safety should take about 15 minutes. The capsule travels at about 3 feet (1 meter) per second, or a casual walking pace, and can speed to 10 feet per second if the miner being carried gets into trouble. The miners can communicate with rescue teams using an intercom in the capsule. They will then be under observation at a nearby hospital for two days.

Rescuers originally found the men, miraculously all alive, 17 days after the mine's collapse with a bore hole the width of grapefruit. It then served as an umbilical cord used to pass hydration gels, water and food, as well as letters from their families and soccer videos to keep their spirits up. Medics say some of the men are psychologically fragile and may struggle with stress for a long time after their rescue. Pinera ordered an overhaul of Chile's mine safety regulations after the accident.

(Additional reporting by Antonio de la Jara, Fabian Cambero, Brad Haynes and Hugh Bronstein in Santiago and Juana Casas in Copiapo; Writing by Simon Gardner; Editing by Kieran Murray and Will Dunham)

 

[chobolan]

Seven miners rescued from Chile mine


Seven miners rescued from Chile mine

Chile's President Sebastian Pinera embraces miner Florencio Antonio Avalos Silva after he was rescued from the collapsed San Jose gold and copper mine where he was trapped with 32 other miners for over two months near Copiapo, Chile, Tuesday.​

Florencio Avalos, the first of 33 miners to be rescued, has surfaced after 69 days underground. He stepped out of a rescue capsule amid sobs from his young son and received a bracing bear hug from Chilean President Sebastian Pinera. Avalos smiled widely as he hugged rescuers, then Pinera, as his wife, two sons and father looked on. His 7-year-old son Bairo sobbed, as did Chile's first lady, Cecilia Morel. Then Avalos was escorted into a medical triage center for the first of a battery of tests.

To hugs, cheers and tears, rescuers using a missile-like escape capsule began pulling 33 men one by one to fresh air and freedom at last early Wednesday, 69 days after they were trapped in a collapsed mine a half-mile underground. Seven men were pulled out in the first hours of the apparently problem-free operation in the Chile's Atacama desert - a drama that saw the world captivated by the miners' endurance and unity as officials meticulously prepared their rescue. First out was Florencio Avalos, who wore sunglasses to protect him from the glare of bright lights.

He smiled broadly as he emerged and hugged his sobbing 7-year-old son, Bairon, and wife, then got a bearhug from Chilean President Sebastian Pinera shortly after midnight local time. A second miner, Mario Sepulveda Espina, was pulled to the surface about an hour later - his shouts heard even before the capsule surfaced. After hugging his wife, Elvira, he jubilantly handed souvenir rocks from his underground prison nearly 2,300 feet (700 meters) below to laughing rescuers. Then he jumped up and down as if to prove his strength before the medical team took him to a triage unit.

"I think I had extraordinary luck. ... I was with God and with the devil - and God took me," Sepulveda said later in a special interview room set up by the government. He praised the rescue operation, saying: "It's incredible that they saved us from 700 meters below." A third Chilean miner, Juan Illanes, was rescued after another hour. The lone Bolivian, Carlos Mamani, was pulled out fourth, the youngest miner, 19-year-old Jimmy Sanchez, was fifth, Osman Isidro Araya came out sixth and Jose Ojeda, who turned 47 on Monday, was seventh.

Mamani was greeted by his wife, Veronica, with a hug and kiss that knocked off her white hardhat as Chile's president and first lady held small Bolivian flags. Mamani also gestured with both forefingers at his T-shirt, which said "Thank You Lord" above a Chilean flag. He shouted "Gracias, Chile!" before a round of backslapping with rescuers. Through the first five rescues, the operation brought up a miner roughly every hour - holding to a schedule announced earlier to get all out in about 36 hours.

Then, rescuers paused to lubricate the spring-loaded wheels that give the capsule a smooth ride through the hard-rock shaft before they brought up the sixth and seventh miners. When the last man surfaces, it promises to end a national crisis that began when 700,000 tons of rock collapsed Aug. 5, sealing the men in the lower reaches of the mine. After the first capsule came out of the manhole-sized opening, Avalos emerged as bystanders cheered, clapped and broke into a chant of "Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le!" - the country's name.

Avalos gave a thumbs-up as he was led to an ambulance and medical tests following his more than two months deep in the gold and copper mine - the longest anyone has ever been trapped underground and survived. Avalos, the 31-year-old second-in-command of the miners, was chosen to be first because he was in the best condition. Pinera later explained they had not planned for Avalos' family to join rescuers at the opening of the shaft, but that little Bairon insisted on being there.

"I told Florencio that few times have I ever seen a son show so much love for his father," the president said. "This won't be over until all 33 are out," he added. "Hopefully this example of the miners will stay forever with us because these miners have demonstrated ... that when Chile unifies, and we always do it in the face of adversity, we are capable of great things," Pinera said. After he emerged, Sepulveda criticized the mine's management, saying "in terms of labor, there has to be change." Pinera promised it would.

"This mine has had a long history of accidents and that's why this mine will not reopen while it doesn't assure and guarantee the integrity, safety and life of those who work in it are clearly protected. And the same will occur with many other mines in our country," said Pinera, who ordered a review of safety regulations after the collapse. Minutes earlier, rescue expert Manuel Gonzalez of the state copper company Codelco grinned and made the sign of the cross as he was lowered to the trapped men - apparently without incident. He was followed by Roberto Rios, a paramedic with the Chilean navy's special forces.

The last miner out has been decided: Shift foreman Luis Urzua, whose leadership was credited for helping the men endure 17 days with no outside contact after the collapse. The men made 48 hours' worth of rations last before rescuers reached them with a narrow borehole to send down more food. Janette Marin, sister-in-law of miner Dario Segovia, said the order of rescue didn't matter. "This won't be a success unless they all get out," she said, echoing the solidarity that the miners and people across Chile have expressed.

The paramedics can change the order of rescue based on a brief medical check once they're in the mine. First out will be those best able to handle any difficulties and tell their comrades what to expect. Then, the weakest and the ill - in this case, about 10 suffer from hypertension, diabetes, dental and respiratory infections and skin lesions from the mine's oppressive humidity. The last should be people who are both physically fit and strong of character.

Chile has taken extensive precautions to ensure the miners' privacy, using a screen to block the top of the shaft from the more than 1,000 journalists at the scene. The rescue was carried live on all-news channels from the U.S. to Europe and the Middle East. Iran's state English-language Press TV followed events live until President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad touched down in Beirut on his first state visit there. But the coverage was interrupted with every new miner rescued.

The miners were ushered through a tunnel built of metal containers to an ambulance for a trip of several hundred yards (meters) to a triage station for a medical check before being flown by helicopter to a hospital in Copiapo, a 10-minute ride away. Two floors at the hospital were prepared for the miners to receive physical and psychological exams while being kept under observation in a ward as dark as a movie theater.

Relatives were urged to wait to greet the miners at home after a 48-hour hospital stay. Health Minister Jaime Manalich said no cameras or interviews will be allowed until the miners are released, unless the miners expressly desire it. The only media allowed to record them coming out of the shaft will be a government photographer and Chile's state TV channel, whose live broadcast was delayed by 30 seconds or more to prevent the release of anything unexpected.

Photographers and camera operators were on a platform more than 300 feet (90 meters) away. The worst technical problem that could happen, rescue coordinator Andre Sougarett told The Associated Press, is that "a rock could fall," potentially jamming the capsule in the shaft. Panic attacks are the rescuers' biggest concern. The miners aren't being sedated - they need to be alert in case something goes wrong.

If a miner must get out more quickly, rescuers will accelerate the capsule to a maximum 3 meters per second, Manalich said. The rescue is risky simply because no one else has ever tried to extract miners from such depths, said Davitt McAteer, who directed the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration in the Clinton administration. "You can be good and you can be lucky. And they've been good and lucky," McAteer told the AP. "Knock on wood that this luck holds out for the next 33 hours."

Mining Minister Laurence Golborne, whose management of the crisis has made him a media star in Chile, said authorities had already thought of everything. "There is no need to try to start guessing what could go wrong. We have done that job," Golborne said. "We have hundreds of different contingencies." As for the miners, Manalich said "they're actually much more relaxed than we are." Neighbors looked forward to barbecues and parties to replace the vigils held since their friends were trapped.

Urzua's neighbors told AP he probably insisted on being the last one up. "He's a very good guy - he keeps everybody's spirits up and is so responsible - he's going to see this through to the end," said neighbor Angelica Vicencio, who has led a nightly vigil outside the Urzua home in Copiapo. Chile has promised that its care of the miners won't end for six months at least - not until they can be sure that each one has readjusted. Psychiatrists and other experts in surviving extreme situations predict their lives will be anything but normal.

Since Aug. 22, when a narrow bore hole broke through to their refuge and the miners stunned the world with a note, scrawled in red ink, disclosing their survival, their families have been exposed in ways they never imagined. Miners had to describe their physical and mental health in detail with teams of doctors and psychologists. In some cases, when both wives and lovers claimed the same man, everyone involved had to face the consequences.

- AP
Published Oct 13 2010

 

[singveld]

why the chile only put chilean flag, and sing chilean song.
they make it like they are the only one who save the miners.

where the team that drill into the miner are amercian.
the team that build the pulley system are austrian.
the team that advise them on health are amercian.
they should at least put an US flag there.

and i fxxk the stupid tv stations that show live of the rescue for 40+ hours non stop. as if nothing else happen on this earth.

 

[singveld]

USA no 1 again

Losers
Plan A
South African engineering, contracting and construction services company Murray & Roberts using drilling machine, the Strata 950.

Plan C
Canada's Precision Drilling, drill "RIG-422".

Winner Plan B

Schramm Inc describes itself as a "century-old Chester County, Pennsylvania manufacturer and global supplier to the hydraulic drilling industry". The firm can have had few better publicity campaigns than the Chile mine rescue. Their machine - the Schramm T-130 machine, known as Plan B - was the second of three machines assembled at the site, but it proved more effective than the other two drills. The T-130 eventually bored the rescue shaft that was used in the rescue.


USA! USA ! USA! USA is still No 1.

 

[Gundam]

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Mission accomplished: World cheers Chile miners rescue </td> <td rowspan="2" class="buttonheading" align="right" width="100%">

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</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="bottom"> Thursday, 14 October 2010 09:32

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COPIAPO, Chile - Chilean rescuers hoisted 33 trapped miners to safety on Wednesday as millions watched round the globe and church bells pealed across the nation after a two-month underground ordeal. In a complicated but flawless operation under Chile's far northern desert, Luis Urzua, who was shift leader when the mine collapsed in early August, emerged last through 2,050 feet (625 metres) of rock in a metal capsule little wider than a man's shoulders.

With much of the world transfixed on TV, celebrations erupted and the miners, who set a world record for survival underground, were welcomed as national heroes outside the San Jose gold and copper mine in the Atacama desert. "I hand the shift over to you and hope this never happens again," Urzua, 54, wearing a hard-hat and shades to protect his eyes, told a waiting and emotional President Sebastian Pinera.

Bells and horns sounded throughout the South American country in celebration, while a crowd outside the mine chanted "Viva Chile" amid smiles, tears and a sea of red-white-and-blue national flags. Rescuers held up a sign in Spanish reading: "Mission Accomplished" before ascending themselves after the 33 miners were evacuated.

Some people compared the 24-hour operation to the mid-space rescue of the Apollo 13 crew 40 years ago. Congratulations poured in from abroad, with U.S. President Barack Obama hailing the rescue as an inspiration to the world. The mine caved in on Aug. 5, the men were all thought dead in yet another of Latin America's litany of mining accidents. But rescuers found them 17 days later with a bore hole the width of a grapefruit.

That tiny hole became an umbilical cord used to pass hydration gels, water and food to keep them alive until a bigger space could be bored to bring them up. Video images of the men took their plight into households around the globe. Mining has played a central but often tragic role in Latin American history, starting with the hunt for gold and silver that drove the Spanish conquest.

For centuries, conditions were atrocious but they have improved radically in recent decades and the industry has helped fuel an economic boom in some nations including Chile. Pinera, a billionaire entrepreneur who took office in March and was at the mine throughout the rescue operation, has ordered an overhaul of safety regulations after the accident.

At the end of the operation, rescue workers opened the capsule door and hugged Urzua, who insisted throughout he would not leave the tunnel until all the others were safely out. The evacuation process -- via a metal capsule named Phoenix after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes -- went quicker and more smoothly than anyone dared to believe, swelling Chileans' pride at the rescue.

"This was the toughest match of my life," said Franklin Lobos, a former professional soccer player who turned to mining and driving a taxi to make ends meet, when he came out. The miners were generally in good health, except for one who had pneumonia and was being treated with antibiotics.

"This is a miracle from God," said Alberto Avalos, the uncle of Florencio Avalos, a father of two who was the first to emerge shortly after midnight. The Chileans' survival story was captured and broadcast by 1,500 journalists camped at the remote scene. The exhausted but euphoric miners hugged rescuers who traveled down the shaft to their refuge deep in the mine.

Unknown workers before the mine collapse, the 33 men are now global media stars. One became a father during captivity, while another came to the surface with a book draft, and a third kept Chileans guessing as to who would greet him when he came out: wife or mistress. The successful end to the miners' underground ordeal was particularly welcome to Chileans after the trauma of a massive February earthquake that killed more than 500 people. Pinera waited at the mouth of the shaft through the night and day to greet and hug the men after an operation he said cost up to $20 million.

His popularity ratings have surged, Bolivia's president, Evo Morales, was also there to greet the sole foreign miner -- Bolivian Carlos Mamani. The saga has improved ties between the two neighbors, despite an old dispute over Bolivia's demand for sea access. While Chile will continue to shut old, decrepit mines after the miners' saga, the clampdown is unlikely to hit output in the world's top copper producer, industry insiders say. -

Reuters/Bernama


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[singveld]

flash for drilling operation

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11485392

 

[singveld]

Chilean miner Osman Araya (right) is welcomed by his wife Angelica as he comes out of the Fenix capsule after been brought to the surface on October 13, 2010 following a 10-week ordeal in the collapsed San Jose mine, near Copiapo, 800 km north of Santiago, Chile. Araya was the sixth from the 33 trapped miners to be lifted from underground. (HUGO INFANTE/AFP/Getty Images)

2Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne (center) speaks during a press conference at the San Jose mine near the city of Copiapo on October 12, 2010. Chile was counting down the hours Tuesday to the start of a dramatic operation to winch 33 miners to the surface, with a presidential welcome awaiting them. (RODRIGO ARANGUA/AFP/Getty Images)

 

[singveld]

3A police officer patrols across from where family members of 33 trapped miners set up 33 flags at the San Jose mine near Copiapo, Chile, Tuesday Oct. 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Hugo Infante, Chilean government)

Journalists cover the operation to rescue the trapped miners at the San Jose mine in Copiapo October 13, 2010.

 

[singveld]

Rescuer Manuel Gonzalez gets into the Fenix capsule, starting the rescue operation of the 33 trapped miners,at the San Jose mine on October 12, 2010

In this photo released by the Chilean government, Chile's President Sebastian Pinera, third from right, watches a descent test of the empty capsule into the rescue hole at the San Jose mine near Copiapo on Oct. 12, 2010. (AP Photo/Hugo Infante, Chilean government)

 

[singveld]

A machinist operates the pulley attached to the Fenix capsule underground at the collapsed San Jose mine on October 13, 2010. (ARIEL MARINKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images)

Mine workers and government officials look into the hole as the rescue capsule is lowered October 12, 2010 at the San Jose mine. (Hugo Infante/Chilean Government via Getty Images)

 

[singveld]

Miners' families and journalists watch the rescue of Florencio Avalos as the first of the 33 trapped miners to be hoisted from the San Jose mine in Copiapo October 12, 2010. (REUTERS/Luis Hidalgo)

The capsule carrying a rescued miner arrives to the surface from the collapsed San Jose mine where he was trapped with 32 other miners for over two months near Copiapo, Chile on Oct. 13, 2010.

 

[singveld]

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and Mining Minister Laurence Golborne stand with the family of Florencio Avalos while waiting for the trapped miner to exit the mine in the rescue capsule October 12, 2010 at the San Jose mine near Copiapo, Chile. (Hugo Infante/Chilean Government via Getty Images)

Chilean miner Mario Sepulveda (left) is welcomed by Chilean President Sebastian Piñera after been brought to the surface on October 13, 2010 following a 10-week ordeal in the collapsed San Jose mine, near Copiapo, 800 km north of Santiago, Chile. Sepulveda was the second of 33 miners to be lifted from underground. (Jose Manuel de la Maza/AFP/Getty Images)

 

[singveld]

Roxana Gomez, daughter of rescued miner Mario Gomez, cries as she watches on a TV screen the rescue operation of her father at the relatives camp outside the San Jose mine on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010. Gomez was the ninth of 33 miners who was rescued from the San Jose mine after more than 2 months trapped underground. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko

Chilean miner Jimmy Sanchez (center left) is welcomed by his father after being brought to the surface in the Fenix capsule on October 13, 2010 after spending a 10-week ordeal in the collapsed San Jose mine. (MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP/Getty Images

 

[singveld]

Relatives and friends of rescued miner Mario Gomez react while watching his rescue on a TV screen at the relatives camp outside the San Jose mine near Copiapo, Chile, Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010.

A life systems monitor linked to a high-tech chest harness shows the vital signs of rescued miner Osman Araya at the San Jose gold and copper mine where Araya had been trapped with 32 other miners for over two months near Copiapo, Chile, early Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Hugo Infante, Chilean government)

 

[singveld]

Rescued miner Jose Ojeda, left, is seen inside a Chilean Air Force helicopter upon their arrival to an Army airfield near a hospital in Copiapo, Chile, Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia

Bolivian miner Carlos Mamani arrives at the Copiapo hospital for a full checkup after being rescued from the San Jose mine October 13, 2010. (REUTERS/Mariana Bazo

 

[singveld]

Relatives of miner Dario Segovia react as watching Segovia on a TV screen during his rescue operation at the camp outside the San Jose mine near Copiapo, Chile, Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Residents cheer while watching the rescue of the last miners trapped in the San Jose mine, on a large screen in a public square of Copiapo October 13, 2010.

 

[singveld]

Family members approach the capsule containing miner Richard Villaroel as he is rescued from the collapsed San Jose mine on Oct. 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Hugo Infante, Chilean government)