‘Plan B’ for rescue of trapped Chile miners

The miners have already been imprisoned for three weeks in a tiny space underground after a cave-in at the San Jose copper and gold mine in Chile on 5 August.

Drilling is expected to begin on Sunday for the rescuers’ plan A, to create a 70cm-wide escape shaft through which a capsule would be lowered to rescue the men one by one.

However, it is expected to take several months to reach the miners, and engineers said they may have another, quicker option, which could rescue the men by mid-October.

The head of the rescue operation Andre Sougarret said that the second option – plan B – would involve using the borehole made by a probe which reached the miners on Thursday.

Officials said some of the miners would have to lose weight to fit through this shaft, if the team goes ahead with it.

Prayers from the Pope and at 'Camp Esperanza'
Drilling is due to start on Sunday in the effort to rescue to 33 Chilean miners trapped more than 2,000 feet below ground, writes Channel 4 News reporter Katie Razzall. 

"Plan A", as it's become known, involves boring a two foot wide hole and wynching out the men. It's expected to take three to four months.

As the Pope on Sunday prayed - in Spanish - for the miners, and the Chilean President Pinera was reported to be attending a mass organised by relatives now living at Camp Ezperanza (Camp Hope) beside the mine, more details of Plan B have also emerged. 

This involves using one of the supply lines already bored down to the men, through which they are being fed food, water and and supplies to try to keep up their spirits. 

A specialized device, normally used for boring water holes, will use the supply line tunnel as a guide and widen it to about 28 inches. This is expected to take less time and could end the miners' ordeal in two months. 

Small diameter holes have already been drilled to communicate with the men and deliver food, water and other suplies.

The conditions of five of the miners, who were thought to be suffering from depression, have improved after they received food and news of their families.

The Chilean authorities have also asked the US space agency Nasa and Chile’s submarine fleet for advice on survival in extreme, confined conditions.