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Rescue shaft completed at Chile mine
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In Chile sixty-six days after the gold and copper mine collapsed, a rescue tunnel has finally been completed. Saturday's development gives the 33 trapped workers a long-sought escape route.
After more than two months of waiting, daylight is on the horizon.
Rescuers jumped for joy as their drill pushed through the last centimeters of a shaft that runs more than six hundred meters underground.
Sirens rang throughout "Camp Hope," where the families of the trapped miners have been living and waiting.
Jeff Hart, Drilling Operations Manager said "As you can imagine, it erupted. we have been here busting our butts. We have worked everyday. We fought the odds. We fought till the very end, we made it into the gallery, it's incredible. The whole place just explode it. It was great."
The "Plan B" drill won a three-way race against two similar tools to carve a hole wide enough for an escape capsule to pull the men out, one by one. The trapped miners are now expected to be rescued next week.
Although the crucial part of the operation has been completed, the rescue effort will only be finished when the last worker is lifted to safety.
Sebastian Pinera, Chilean President said "Safely, intelligently and of course as soon as possible. I hope that the rescue occurs next week, whether it is Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, that is not what's important. What's important is to rescue them alive and rescue them safely and we won't hold back any efforts to do that."
The Chilean first lady says she had a great opportunity to talk with the miners.
Cecilia Morel, Chilean First Lady said "Their hope, their faith, their generosity, their patience, there are so many things Chileans can learn from the strength of those miners."
The rescue team must now decide whether it's more risky to pull the miners up through unreinforced rock, or to insert tons of heavy steel piping into the shaft, to protect the men on their way up. Once they're rescued, they will be flown by helicopters to regional hospitals were doctors are standing by. Only after their physical and mental health is thoroughly examined, will they be allowed to go home.
