First Miner FLORENCIO AVALOS Reaches The Surface

 I watched, along with millions of people around the world as 31 year old Florencio Avalos was brought up to the surface for the first time in 68 days. He appeared to be in surprisingly good condition considering what he had been through. He hugged his family and several other people and was whisked off to a triage centre to be checked out. A joyful start to a long process has just begun.
    . . . June


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First of 33 trapped miners reaches surface
This Just In - CNN.com Blogs:

Rescuers clap and cheer as the first miner to be rescued, Florencio Avalos, 31, leaves the capsule and steps onto the surface for the first time in about 68 days. After hugging several people, he is put on a stretcher and wheeled into a nearby triage center.

The first of 33 miners who were trapped in the mine more than two months ago has been rescued.

The rescue capsule carrying Florencio Avalos reached the surface about 16 minutes after the ascent from the miners' refuge 2,300 feet below the surface began. Avalos is the first miner to be rescued.



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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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US Drilling Experts Help to free Chilean miners

U.S. drilling experts help trapped miners

 The article below shows the real compassion that is felt for the trapped miners in Chile. "We have got humans in the ground. It doesn't matter if they are Americans or Chileans," Brandon Fisher said Monday in his first interview since arriving in Chile eight days earlier. Fisher and a small crew of American drillers are one of the three drilling teams racing to rescue 33 trapped miners buried 2,300 feet below the ground.
    . . . June

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American team helping to free Chilean miners
CNN.com: By Patrick Oppmann September 15, 2010

At the San Jose Mine, Chile (CNN) -- Brandon Fisher has the deep orange hue of someone who has a sunburn on top of a sunburn. The creases under his eyes are evidence of how little sleep he has had lately.

Fisher and a small crew of American drillers are the tip of the spear for Plan B, one of the three drilling teams racing to rescue 33 trapped miners buried 2,300 feet below the ground.

It's a high pressure assignment expected to continue for months in Chile's remote and unforgiving Atacama Desert

Fisher's crew has been working around the clock for more than a week. Despite the grueling schedule, he said he's up for the challenge.

"We have got humans in the ground. It doesn't matter if they are Americans or Chileans," Fisher said Monday in his first interview since arriving in Chile eight days earlier.

"We have the ability to help them out, and that's the whole reason we are here. Miners are miners; it doesn't matter what country they are from."

Fisher is based in Berlin, Pennsylvania, in the heart of the state's mining country thousands of miles from Chile. His company, Center Rock Inc., aided in the rescue of nine miners who were trapped for more than four days after the 2002 collapse of the Quecreek Mine.

He has drilled oil, gas and water holes and the foundations for the Trump Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

Read on . . .

Giant Drill Arrives at Chile mine

A truck carrying pieces of the third

drill that will be used in the... 

((AP Photo/Aliosha Marquez))

 The officials are busy drilling down some rescue shafts through the solid rock to their location. A huge oil drilling machine has just arrived at the site to start a third rescue shaft. It's still going to take a long time to reach them. In the meantime, the men are now allowed cigaretes and they are regularly speaking to their families.
   . . . June



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Giant drill at Chile mine greeted with cheers
Yahoo! News:

COPIAPO, Chile (AFP) – Scores of flatbed trucks began unloading a huge oil drilling machine Friday to dig a third rescue tunnel to 33 trapped miners, as one drill was nearly one-third of the way down and another lay idle for repairs.

The families of the trapped miners cheered and waved flags as they welcomed the first of 42 trucks that rolled in around 8:30 am (1230 GMT).

'These trucks are enormous,' marveled Maria, sister of trapped miner Dario Segovia. 'We were up all night here in the camp waiting for them.'

Several of the six-axle trucks limped in with flat tires, a result of driving to the mine on a steep hillside dirt road filled with potholes and sharp rocks.

Their arrival was delayed as excavators and bulldozers had to broaden the entrance to the San Jose mine near Copiapo, a city some 800 kilometers north of Santiago, to accommodate the giant trucks.

The trapped miners have become national heroes since they were found alive on August 22, 17 days after a mine cave-in in the remote Atacama desert. The miners are trapped some 700 meters (2,300 feet)
below the surface.

However euphoria over their discovery was dampened by news it could take months, possibly until Christmas, to drill a shaft to rescue the miners.

Rescuers are dropping food and water down narrow shafts to the miners to keep them alive, along with medicines and games to keep them healthy and occupied.

One of the delivery shafts Friday was fitted with a multi-use conduit reaching all the way down to the miners' shelter, providing them with permanent supplies of oxygen, water, and a telephone line.

"Now they can speak by telephone via the conduct," the lead engineer in the rescue effort, Andres Sougarret, told reporters Friday.

The trucks bringing the new equipment, designed to drill oil wells and operated by Canada's Precision Drilling, arrived from Iquique in waves because the camp work zone is too small to park them all together.

The giant drill "RIG-422" they were bringing can tunnel up to 2,000 meters below the surface at a speed -- depending on the density of the ground -- of between 20 and 40 meters a day, according to Chilean officials.
Officials have dubbed the effort "Plan C," and if all goes according to schedule workers will drill down just 597 meters (1,958 feet), shortening the rescue time to perhaps two months.

Read on . . .

Film About Trapped Miners Planned by Chilean Director

 It was just a matter of time. What a premise for a movie! 33 trapped miners underground for months with their individual stories and motivations. Wow! To make it even better, the director plans to donate the profits to finance the education of the miners' children.
     . . . June


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Chilean director to make film on trapped miners:

2010-09-08 08:40:00  SIFY News

Chilean director Rodrigo Ortuzar has announced that he is planning to make a film on the 33 miners trapped for a month in the country and that he will donate the profits to finance the education of the miners' children.

'All the money that is collected, all of it, not a percentage, all the money that is collected at the box office in Chile is going to go directly to a foundation that is going to be in charge of looking out for the education of the miners' children,' Ortuzar told Radio Cooperativa.

With the aim of 'observing to later recreate', Ortuzar is using two cameras to film the day to day activities at 'Camp Hope', set up by the families of the men trapped at the San Jose mine, some 830 km north of Santiago.

This weekend he will travel to the mine to discuss with the relatives of the miners about the project, which he has already discussed with writer Hernan Rivera Letelier.

The director said that the film, tentatively titled 'Los 33' (The 33), will focus more 'on the human side', although it will not exclude other angles, like for example the safety failings at the mine and 'how companies make stacks of money'.

'This is the first Chilean tragedy with a happy ending up to this point,' Ortuzar said.

Read on . . .

Trapped Chilean Miner Proposes To His Sweetheart

This is about as romantic as it gets! With the world watching, Esteban Rojes, buried deep underground in the collapsed Chilean mine, scribbled his proposal on a scrap of paper. “When I get out, let’s buy the dress and we’ll get married.”

Of course, the delighted bride-to-be- Jessica said "YES"
   . . . June

Trapped Chilean miner proposes to sweetheart
Mumbai Mirror: Posted On Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 04:23:35 AM
One of the 33 Chilean miners stuck deep underground awaiting rescue has popped the question to his childhood sweetheart in a handwritten note.


Romantic Esteban Rojas, 44, scribbled his proposal on a scrap of paper from where he is buried 700 metres underground.


In the note to Jessica Ganiez, he wrote: “When I get out, let’s buy the dress and we’ll get married.”


Trapped miners are receiving handwritten notes sent to them through three small bore holes.

On Sunday night, a delighted Jessica, 43, spoke of her joy at finally being asked to tie the knot after 25 years together. Speaking to Daily Mirror, she said: “I thought he was never going to ask me. We have talked about it before, but he never asked me. I think it is a good idea.”

She added: “I have tried to hint at it many times, but it never happened. He always said getting married is a once in a lifetime thing and he would ask me when the time is best. Obviously, what has happened has made him do it.”

The couple are registered civil partners but have never had a church wedding. Now Jessica has told friends and family she will set up a wedding gift register with a fridge and a cooker at the top of the list.

This week Jessica, who began dating Esteban in her teens, will get to speak him on the phone for the first time after a communication link was set up Sunday.

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The Story of One Chili Mine Disaster Family

There are many stories associated with the Chili Mine disaster. Each of the trapped miners has a family waiting for him, but this one family have already had a disaster behind them. 

Read their story in the article below.
   . . . June


Chilean family survives quake, faces mine collapse
By BRADLEY BROOKS, Associated Press Writer Bradley Brooks, Associated Press Writer

COPIAPO, Chile – Carola Narvaez breathed in the Atacama Desert's cold dawn air and slowly began to exhale the story of how her family survived a devastating earthquake and worked to rebuild their lives — only for her husband to end up trapped deep inside a Chilean mine.

A tale of two disasters, Narvaez's account embodies the challenges still faced by the poor in Chile despite two decades as Latin America's economic darling. It is a story of incredible misfortune, unwavering faith and a love she said has only been strengthened by adversity.

Narvaez's husband, Raul Bustos, is a heavy-machinery mechanic whose skills have always been in demand. For years he has made a living repairing the equipment that rips copper, the lifeblood of Chile's economy, out of the earth, or helping build massive ships in ports along the nation's 4,000-mile (6,400-kilometer) coastline.

Six months ago Friday, the family was living in the port city of Talcahuano, 300 miles (500 kilometers) south of the capital, where Raul was working for Chilean shipbuilder Asmar.

Like most Chileans, the couple were sound asleep when one of the most powerful earthquakes registered in a century struck the central coast Feb. 27.

What the earthquake did not knock down, the tsunami it triggered washed away. While the family's home survived, ships in Asmar's yards were pushed into the street and the builder's operations destroyed.

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Trapped Chilean Miners Face a Very Tough Ordeal

Being a miner has to be a hard enough job - going down into a mine, but when something like this happens, they're faced with a prolonged stay underground. Miners train for a lot of things, but it's hard to prepare for something like this. The article below tells more about their plight
    . . June


Trapped Chilean Miners Face a Tough Psychological Ordeal - Yahoo! News:

There's almost nothing about the plight of the Chilean miners trapped beneath nearly half a mile of rock in the Atacama Desert that doesn't horrify us. There's the crowding - 33 men confined in a 600-sq.-ft. safety chamber smaller than a one-bedroom apartment. There's the heat - a stagnant 90 degrees F relieved only by a thin trickle of fresh air that makes it down through a narrow ventilation pipe. There's the gloom - a near total blackness relieved only by the flashlights on the men's helmets. Worst of all, there's the calendar: the miners face up to four more months of such confinement before a rescue tunnel can be drilled and they can be pulled to safety. That kind of ordeal, we say, would drive any of us nuts - and we're right; it probably would.

Live entombment holds a particular terror for all human beings, and miners are no exception. They may habituate themselves to darkness and heat and very tight spaces, but when the system breaks down - when there's no prospect of re-emerging into the light after a 10-hour shift - their minds can break too. And the longer they're below, the worse the damage may be. (See how the miners survived the first 17 days of their ordeal.)

"Miners train for a lot of things, but it's hard to prepare for something like this," says Dennis O'Dell, director of occupational safety and health for the United Mine Workers of America and a veteran of 20 years in the mines himself. "They're taught first to have a route of escape. It's only when that fails that you have to think of taking shelter."

Chilean officials are being roundly criticized for the shabby state of the mine and the poor safety record that led to the Aug. 5 collapse - but they're also getting a lot of kudos for the way they've responded since, particularly the attention they've paid to the emotional welfare of the imprisoned men and their families. Ever since the miners were located after a 17-day search of the maze of subterranean shafts, officials have been reaching out to psychologists, family counselors and even NASA doctors, who know better than most about how people endure long periods of confinement far away from loved ones.

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