Drill Breaks Through To Trapped Miners in Chile

 They've finally reached the miners and the celebrations are on. However, the ordeal is far from over and even now, the miners’ rescue is likely to be days away, with the actual extraction beginning late Monday at the earliest. At this point, those miners are going to start thinking of that long journey up strapped inside the rescue capsule. God bless them!
    . . . June


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Drill Reaches Trapped Miners in Chile, but Risks Remain

By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO and CHRISTINE HAUSER Published: October 9, 2010


SAN JOSÉ MINE, Chile — They wept, they cheered, sirens blared and a bell at a makeshift schoolhouse rang in celebration.

SAN JOSÉ MINE, Chile — They wept, they cheered, sirens blared and a bell at a makeshift schoolhouse rang in celebration.

After nearly two months of waiting, the moment had finally arrived.

At 8:05 a.m. on Saturday, here in a camp in this scorching desert, a powerful drill pierced through abrasive volcanic rock to reach 33 miners trapped nearly a half a mile underground since Aug. 5. Family members erupted into cheers. They ran downhill toward the site

Family members erupted into cheers. They ran downhill toward the site with flags, some singing the Chilean national anthem. A victorious call rang out: “Viva Chilean miners!”
It was a crucial moment in the long and torturous effort to rescue the men, who have been surviving on supplies lowered down to them more than 2,050 feet below the surface.

Reaching this stage required an extraordinary international effort and pioneering rescue techniques to plow through thousands of feet of rock while not compromising the miners’ safety. Chilean officials brought in advisers from NASA, created a special rescue capsule and even fed the trapped miners cylindrical pies specially baked to fit down a narrow hole.

But the ordeal is far from over and even now, the miners’ rescue is likely to be days away, with the actual extraction beginning late Monday at the earliest.

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