Breakthrough In Chilean Mine Rescue
Posted October 9, 2010 9:00 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s a rescue effort more than two months in the making, but the ordeal is almost over for 33 trapped Chilean miners.
Rescuers managed to drill through to the 700 m underground chamber housing the men Saturday.
They’ve been kept captive there for a record 66 days.
Officials say the next step is to determine whether the miners can be lifter up through the exposed rock or if they will need to wait for the shaft to be encased with steel piping.
Sirens wailed in celebration outside the San Jose mine, where many of the miner’s families have been camped out awaiting news.
They have been able to communicate through telephone and have been sending food and a camera up and down through a pulley system.
The actual rescue is expected to take 35 hours as the miners will have to be pulled out one by one.
The miners will be brought up in a particular order. The first four will be those judged to be able to handle any setbacks, in case of a disastrous rescue attempt or faulty equipment.
The next group will be those in poor health, followed by those who are strong enough to wait until last.
Officials say they anticipate the official rescue attempt to begin in three to eight days.
