33 workers missing and feared dead after an Aug. 5th mine collapse in northern Chile were discovered alive and well by rescue workers over the weekend.
At a news conference with family member of the miners outside the San Jose copper and gold mine near Copiapo, Chilean President Sebastian Piñera announced that the miners had been found alive and well in an underground shelter and were able to pass a note through a grapefruit-sized hole to rescuers. The note Piñera displayed during his conference simply read "All 33 of us are fine in the shelter". Rescuers were able to lower a camera through the hole, which showed many of the miners shirtless and waving at the cameras.
The news came as rescuers and loved ones were giving up hope that the trapped be would be found and was cause for celebrations throughout the country, even as the good news was tempered with warnings that it could take up to 4 months to safely extract the miners.
At a news conference with family member of the miners outside the San Jose copper and gold mine near Copiapo, Chilean President Sebastian Piñera announced that the miners had been found alive and well in an underground shelter and were able to pass a note through a grapefruit-sized hole to rescuers. The note Piñera displayed during his conference simply read "All 33 of us are fine in the shelter". Rescuers were able to lower a camera through the hole, which showed many of the miners shirtless and waving at the cameras.
The news came as rescuers and loved ones were giving up hope that the trapped be would be found and was cause for celebrations throughout the country, even as the good news was tempered with warnings that it could take up to 4 months to safely extract the miners.
While rescuers are working to shore up the smaller hole with which they can use to drop food, water, medicine and microphones down, details are emerging about the trapped miners' ingenuity in which they used a bulldozer to provide a canal of fresh water and used power from a truck's engine to rig a makeshift lighting system.
A specialized drill loaned by the state-run CodelCo is expected to take 3-4 months to reach the men. Chile's mining minister Laurence Goldborne said that rescuers would have to proceed cautiously in order to avoid triggering another collapse
In the meantime, two smaller shafts will be dug to further accommodate ventilation and communication with the surface. Authorities plan on sending microphones down so the trapped miners can communicate with loved ones on the surface.
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