Chilean rescue capsule
Cheers rang out shortly after 8 a.m. Chilean time when a drill, boring a rescue shaft to 33 trapped Chilean miners, broke through into a chamber half a mile underground where they have been stranded for two months.
The miners have been trapped since Aug. 5 after an access tunnel caved in at Cia. Minera San Esteban Primera SA’s San Jose copper and gold mine in the Atacama region. Chilean state-run Codelco, BHP Billiton Ltd. and other mining companies assisted in what has become the world’s longest-ever mine rescue.
The ongoing drama has gained international attention as people around the world are riveted to news sources monitoring the progress of the rescue. Original estimates were that rescuers wouldn’t reach the men until December, but thankfully that proved to be wrong.
“This is an important achievement,” said Laurence Golborne, Chilean mining minister shortly after the breakthrough. “But we still haven’t rescued anybody. This rescue won’t be over until the last person below leaves this mine.”
The evacuation will not take place until after Chilean naval paramedics and mining rescue experts are sent down the shaft to check the status of the men. A field hospital has been set up on the mountainside that will be used to evaluate, stabilize and temporarily house the 33 miners once they are hoisted to the surface.
If all goes well, the first miners are expected to see daylight on Oct. 12.
