Trapped Chilean miners found alive
Updated on 23 August 2010
Thirty three miners trapped deep underground in a Chilean copper mine have sent a note to the surface saying they are alive – but experts say it could take months to rescue them.
The trapped miners have been surviving in an underground shelter since the collapse of the copper and gold mine on 5 August.
They sent a note up to the surface tied to a rescue drill.
The note, which Chilean President Sebastian Pinera held up on television, said: "The 33 of us in the shelter are well."
Rescuers have also lowered a camera down the bore hole to the trapped men, and some of the miners looked into the lens. Relatives of the miners have gathered around the area and celebrated the news that their loved ones were alive with bonfires, live music and dancing as night fell.
In the capital, Santiago, around 200 people gathered in the main square to celebrate, as diners applauded in restaurants and drivers honked their horns.
But the miners could still face a difficult time ahead.
"It will take months" to get them out, the president said at the mine head. "It will take time, but it doesn’t matter how long it takes to have a happy ending."
To rescue the men from the collapsed shaft, rescuers plan to dig a new shaft to enable them to leave, which could take up to 120 days.
Trapped
The miners are trapped about 4.5 miles inside the mine, and about 2,300 feet deep, inside a shelter the size of a small apartment. They have limited amounts of food, and doctors are advising sending down enriched mineral water and medicines.
They have survived using tanks of water and ventilation shafts deep in the mine, near the city of Copiapo in Mexico.
The eldest of the trapped men, 63-year-old Mario Gomez, also wrote a letter to his wife which was attached to the note.
"God is great," it read. "This company has got to modernize, but I want to tell everyone I’m ok, and am sure we’ll survive."
The accident has drawn attention to the local company which owns the mine, Compania Minera San Esteban Primera. While serious mining accidents are rare in Chile, the mine where the workers are trapped has seen 16 workers die in recent years.
Chilean president Pinera has fired top officials at the country’s mining regulator, and vowed to overhaul the agency in the wake of the accident.
Chile is the world's number one copper producer, but the industry has had an eventful year. Operations had to be halted at some of the country's biggest mines earlier this year, after a devastating earthquake which killed almost 800 people in February.
Gomez’s daughter, awaiting his return on the surface, told reporters at the mine: "When he comes out, I'm going to give him a million kisses. No-one will be able to take this happiness away from me. I've never felt anything like this in my life. I can’t wait to talk to him."
