Headlines
All Chilean Miners Rescued
33 Miners, 69 Days Underground, 33 Happy Endings
18th October 2010
After 69 days underground in humid, dark, oxygen deprived surroundings, the last Chilean miner was hoisted up to the surface late on Wednesday night (21:55 13 October, local time) and was greeted with rapturous applause and a tearful family waiting to surround him. Luis Urzua was the 33rd miner to be lifted to safety via a capsule just 13ft tall and barely wider than the miners themselves; the capsule smoothly lifted each and every miner through 2,000ft of rock. The rescue operation itself went without a hitch and was executed flawlessly for almost 23 hours.
Urzua was believed to be the leader of the group who held the group together when fears of being trapped forever quickly spread through the camp. On the 5 August 700,000 tons of rock collapsed and entombed the 33 men. There were initial fears that none of the men could have survived, yet spirits were lifted, when on the 17th day contact was reached with the miners. The world had stood and watched since it was discovered that the miners were still alive and in remarkably good spirits as a sense of group cohesion had developed between the 33 men.
Gifts and rations were lowered to the miners including a Barcelona football shirt signed by David Villa himself as he too comes from a mining background. As well as gifts being lowered to the miners, so too were food, medicine and shaving accessories, which were clearly used as some miners emerged from the capsule clean shaven. As well as being in good spirits and clean shaven when lifted back to the surface all miners were supplied with oxygen masks, dark glasses to protect their eyes from the sunlight they had not seen for over 2 months and also a jumper for the vast change in temperature from a sweltering heat to a cold desert air. More than 300 people at the mine had worked on the rescue itself or to maintain the miners’ spirits and fitness levels via lowering the rations and gifts for the 33 Chilean men aged between 19 and 63.
Mario Gomez, 63, suffers from a lung disease common to miners and was given antibiotics throughout the 69 day ordeal. When leaving the capsule, he fell to the floor in prayer and clutched the Chilean flag until his partner lifted him from the ground and embraced him. Gomez and his partner of 30 years have now agreed to marry in a church ceremony on his 64th birthday in November.
This news story has managed to lift the spirits of everybody at a time of economic difficulty, including US President Barack Obama who believes that the rescue has “inspired the world”. Messages of congratulations for the Chilean people have also poured in from Pope Benedict, David Cameron and many others.