First rescue capsule arrives for Chile miners

Two more back-up rescue devices will be delivered later in the week.

The man-sized capsule, known as the Phoenix, will be used to pull out the 33 miners one by one, as soon as the three rescue holes have been drilled to reach the men.

The government hopes that it will happen in early November. Friends and relatives were allowed to stand in the capsule to see what it is like and how comfortable.

One relative, Elizabeth Segovia, whose brother Dario is among the trapped men, said: “I’m pretty happy. Hope arrived to get the kids out so we’re happy, happy that the capsule arrived.”

“I was imagining that I was my brother coming out of the mine. I am very excited for this,” a brother of a trapped miner said after trying out the capsule.

The three drills, known as Plan A, B and C, are working to open up a hole wide enough for the capsule to fit down.

Mining Minister Laurence Golborne claimed the capsule is roomy and comfortable.

He said: “This capsule that weighs 420 kilograms, is 1.9 metres high in its interior for a person and, as you saw, a person fits no problem and can move inside of it. This capsule is outfitted with oxygen, with communication and has, as we said in the morning, a system that, in case of emergency, allows us to unhinge the bottom part and lower it apart from the part that is held up above.

“You can stand in it relatively comfortably and you can stay in there for 10 to 15 minutes without any inconvenience,” Golborne said after exiting the capsule.

Initial estimates suggested the miners would be underground until Christmas, but the predictions were lowered to early November. Rumours have even been circulating at the camp that they might be out of the mine sometime next month.

The Plan C drill now appears to be the most promising of the three. It is an oil drill that is opening up a hole wide enough to pass the rescue capsule.

However, Plan C is extremely difficult to control and periodically needs to be redirected, so it is moving very slowly.

Sources at the mine have said the metal tubing will need to reinforce the hole, once Plan C has managed to reach the men.

Relatives, having seen the Phoenix, are confident the miners will be back on the surface by early October, but they are worried about the mental health of the men after spending weeks in the dimly-lit and hot tunnel.

Rescuers are in constant contact with the miners through several small ducts, which they use to deliver food, water, letters from relatives and even football videos.

The miners, who range from a former professional footballer to a first-time miner and a Bolivian immigrant, have exchanged letters and videos with their relatives, including images of the birth of the daughter of one of them.