Watch Dramatic endgame nears for trapped Chile miners

Dramatic endgame nears for trapped Chile miners


SAN JOSE MINE, Chile – They'll come up one by one in green overalls bearing their names on their chests — first the fittest, then the weakest, twisting in a steel cage that proved itself with four flawless test runs deep into the earth.
The dramatic endgame hastened Monday for the 33 Chilean miners who have braved two months underground, with rescuers reinforcing the escape shaft and the 13-foot-tall rescue chamber sliding, as planned, nearly all the way to the trapped men.
"It didn't even raise any dust," Mining Minister Laurence Golborne said.
If all goes well, everything will be in place late Tuesday to begin pulling the men out, officials said. The lead psychologist for the rescue team recommended the extractions begin at dawn Wednesday. No official decision was announced, but Andre Sougarret, the rescue team coordinator, tweeted Monday evening that "today the miners sleep their last night together!"
On Monday, the Phoenix I capsule — the biggest of three built by Chilean navy engineers, named for the mythic bird that rose from ashes — made its first test run after the top 180 feet of the shaft was encased in tubing, the rescue leader said.
Then the empty capsule was winched 2,000 feet, just 40 feet short of the shaft system that has been the miners' refuge since an Aug. 5 collapse.
"We didn't send it (all the way) down because we could risk that someone will jump in," a grinning Golborne told reporters.
Engineers had planned to extend the piping nearly twice as far, but they decided to stop after the sleeve — the hole is angled 11 degrees off vertical at its top before plumbing down, like a waterfall — became jammed during a probe.
Rescue team psychologist Alberto Iturra said he recommended the first man be pulled out at dawn because the miners are to be taken by Chilean air force helicopters to the nearby city of Copiapo and fog tends to enshroud the mine at night.


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It is a roughly 10-minute flight, said Lt. Col. Aldo Carbone, the choppers' squadron commander. He said the pilots have night-vision goggles but will not fly unless it is clear. Ambulances will be ready for backup. The drive would take about an hour.
Officials have drawn up a secret list of which miners should come out first, but the order could change after paramedics and a mining expert first descend in the capsule to evaluate the men and oversee the journey upward.
First out will be the four fittest of frame and mind, said health minister Jaime Manalich. Should glitches occur, these men will be best prepared to ride them out and tell their comrades what to expect.
Next will be 10 who are weakest or ill. One miner suffers from hypertension. Another is a diabetic, and others have dental and respiratory infections or skin lesions from the mine's oppressive humidity.
The last out is expected to be Luiz Urzua, who was shift chief when the men became entombed, several family members of miners told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because they did not want to upset government officials.
The men will take a twisting, 20-minute ride for 2,041 feet up to the surface. It should take about an hour for the rescue capsule to make a round trip, deputy rescue coordinator Rene Aguilar told The Associated Press.
Golborne said all would be ready by 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Officials wanted to make sure the concrete around the steel tubing at the top of the shaft set, he said.
Coppied by http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101012/ap_on_bi_ge/lt_chile_mine_collapse;_ylt=AiLJkNIf_mZoO62d6dbIAqes0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNtaGpiZDU0BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMDEyL2x0X2NoaWxlX21pbmVfY29sbGFwc2UEY2NvZGUDbW9zdHBvcHVsYXIEY3BvcwMxBHBvcwMyBHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNkcmFtYXRpY2VuZGc-

Trapped Chile miners get supplies

Watch Trapped Chile miners get supplies

Thirty-three Chilean miners trapped underground for the past 18 days have begun accepting food, water and oxgen from above ground.

The deliveries on Monday come after Sebastian Pinera, the president, announced that all the miners were still alive, and had made contact through a written note attached to a drill that signalled the good news.

Despite the dramatic breakthrough, the chief engineer in charge of the rescue operation, Andres Sougarret, said it would take at least four months of drilling to bring out the trapped miners, and on Monday, rescue teams worked to gauge their state of mind and brace them for the long wait ahead.

Through a newly installed communications system, each of the men spoke and
reported feeling hungry but well, except for one with a stomach problem, a
Chilean official said.

Pinera said the nation was "crying with excitement and joy'' after engineers broke through on Sunday to the men's refuge.

It had been 18 days since a landslide at the gold and copper mine caused a tunnel to collapse and entombed them more than 2,200 feet below ground.

Doctors and psychological experts meanwhile were trying to safeguard the sanity of the miners in the months to come, and said they were implementing a plan that included keeping them informed and busy.

"They need to understand what we know up here at the surface, that it will take many weeks for them to reach the light,'' health minister Jaime Manalich told the Associated Press.

Public pressure
The Chilean President said the entire nation was elated to receive the good news.
President Pinera has sacked top officials of Chile's mining regulator and vowed a major overhaul of the agency in light of the accident.
"Obviously, there is a degree of happiness," a beaming Mining Minister Laurence Golborne told state television from the mine entrance, where relatives of the trapped men have been camped out for over a fortnight.

"I thank the miners for their bravery, for their courage in holding out more than two weeks in the depths of the mountain," Pinera said.

"They'll come out thin and dirty, but whole and strong, because the miners have shown they have courage and mettle, which is what has kept them together."

Serious mining accidents are rare in Chile, but the government says the San Jose mine, owned by local private company Compania Minera San Esteban Primera, has suffered a series of mishaps and up to 16 miners have lost their lives in recent years.
Coppied by http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/08/201082323048202567.html

Trapped miners in Chile 'are alive'

Watch Trapped miners in Chile 'are alive'


Mining accidents are on the rise in Chile [AFP]
Sebastian Pinera, the Chilean president, has said that all 33 miners trapped underground for the past 17 days are still alive.

Pinera announced on Sunday that the trapped miners had made contact through a written note attached to a drill that signalled the good news.

"All 33 of us are well inside the shelter," Pinera read, waving a message scribbled in red pencil sent by the miners 700 meters (2,300 feet) below the ground.

"This came out of the ground. It's a message from our miners telling us they are alive, that they are together."

Relief

His words were met by a roar of cheers, as friends and families wept and hugged each other in relief after days of fading hopes.

Until Sunday, there had been no word from them and hopes for their survival were fading.

The miners have been trapped since the collapse of a small gold and copper mine near the northern city of Copiapo on August 5.

"It would take at least four months of drilling to reach and bring out the trapped miners"

Andres Sougarret, chief engineer of rescue effort

Mine officials and family had hoped the workers were able to escape to the shelter when the walls collapsed but there were fears that air and food supplies would be limited.

Despite the dramatic breakthrough, the chief engineer in charge of the rescue operation, Andres Sougarret, said it would take at least four months of drilling to reach and bring out the trapped miners.

Pablo Fernandez, a journalist in the Chilean capital, Santiago, told Al Jazeera that rescue effort was far from over.

"The next step is to establish direct contact with the miners who have been trapped for 17 days.

"In the next few hours, the authorities hope to have audio and video of the workers, also clean water, medicines and a special nutritional gel will be sent down the shaft."

Authorities concur that it could take up to 120 days to dig a new tunnel to rescue the miners.

Public pressure

Fernandez said that the note which was taped to a drill had brought relief to government officials who had been under severe pressure from the public.

"This represents a big relief for the Chilean government who have been under mounting pressure from family members and relatives of the trapped miners, because they thought that not enough was being done."

President Pinera has sacked top officials of Chile's mining regulator and vowed a major overhaul of the agency in light of the accident.

"Obviously, there is a degree of happiness," a beaming Mining Minister Laurence Golborne told state television from the mine entrance, where relatives of the trapped men have been camped out for over a fortnight.

"I thank the miners for their bravery, for their courage in holding out more than two weeks in the depths of the mountain," Pinera said.

"They'll come out thin and dirty, but whole and strong, because the miners have shown they have courage and mettle, which is what has kept them together."

Serious mining accidents are rare in Chile, but the government says the San Jose mine, owned by local private company Compania Minera San Esteban Primera, has suffered a series of mishaps and up to 16 miners have lost their lives in recent years.
Coppied by http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/08/2010822202238700399.html