Chilean Mine Accident

[Dino]

Came across this story on Yahoo today;

I can only imagine what it must be like to be trapped for 17 days with no immediate end in sight. God bless those miners.

Chilean Mine Accident

[acidman1968]

Re: Chilean Mine Accident

Came across this story on Yahoo today;

I can only imagine what it must be like to be trapped for 17 days with no immediate end in sight. God bless those miners.

Chilean Mine Accident

The amazing thing is they've received information that all 33 miners who are trapped are alive and well - just trapped in the "safe shelter". I couldn't imagine that they're going to be stuck down there for about four months while the escape shaft is bored out... One of the articles I've read stated that they're looking at drilling a 27 inch diameter bore hole down to the chamber, and then rescuing the miners one by one in a capsule / cage that they'll lower down.

I spent 22 months in Chile north of Copiapo, and I know that the Chilean people are full of faith and enjoy life considerably. There will be parties galore after the men are out!

...In the mean time, I wonder if the men are getting paid around-the-clock until they're rescued... After all, they're still "on the job". They should be racking up some serious overtime!

[Dino]

If I was going to be stuck in a mine for months with 30 of my co-workers/friends; the first thing I would want them to send me down the 6" hole would be a deck of cards and alot of beer. As for the overtime I would hope they would get something for all their trouble, but I got a feeling after all is said and done they will probably be happy just to get out alive. However, I'm sure the mine will probably go bankrupt from the cost of saving these guys.

[acidman1968]

Just an update on what's happening now down in Chile:

Rescue shaft reaches miners...

SAN JOSE MINE, Chile – A drilling rig punched through to the underground purgatory where 33 miners have been trapped for 66 agonizing days under the Chilean desert, raising cheers, tears and hopes on Saturday.

Relatives waiting at "Camp Hope" on the surface waved Chilean flags and shouted with joy as word spread of the breakthrough, and one man frantically rang a bell even before a siren sounded to officially confirm that the escape shaft had reached the miners. They are still several days away from rescue: Engineers must first check the shaft and decide whether to reinforce it before pulling them to the surface.

I don't really know whether anyone else has continued following the news from Chile, but I have - probably because I lived down there for a couple years...


This other article is kinda interesting, too. It describes a "list" that they've somewhat made to determine who gets rescued first, and who will be the last out of the hole...

Chile list says which miners should be rescued first...

[Joanne]

I am stunned to see just how small the rescue shaft is! The first rescuer to go down that shaft is a true hero in my opinion. Wow!

I'm sending prayers that all come to the surface safely.

Joanne

[acidman1968]

...and the first of the 33 trapped miners has reached the surface!!! Viva Chile!

Now they're in the process of dropping the second paramedic down the tunnel.

[John]

Hope things go without a hitch until they are all up.

[acidman1968]

And they're currently up to 12 miners out of 33 (plus two rescuers) who have been brought safely to the surface!!!

[Joanne]

I have been watching the life feed from Fox news. I has the ambient audio from the camera so I can't tell what they are talking about (I don't speak Spanish) but it has all of the current video. At one point they were showing the feed from the recovery pod camera that was pointed straight up the shaft. It was kind of interesting to watch the pod being pulled up through the different strata.

Joanne

[acidman1968]

All 33 miners reached the surface safely!

They still need to get out the rescuers who volunteered to go down and assist in the rescue, but the 33 who have been underground for the last 69 days are again on the surface!

[Joanne]

Job well done!

[acidman1968]

Well, at approximately 8:30 pm Mountain Time, the last rescuer reached the surface at the San Jose Mine near Copiapo.

That's everyone!

All 33 miners and the six rescuers are on the surface.

For those who are curious, here are the coordinates of the San Jose Mine:

Latitude: 27° 9'17.47"S

Longitude: 70°29'51.53"W

You can look up where that mine is located in Northern Chile on Google Earth. There are a few pics that people (probably journalists) have posted that are on Google Earth that you can check out.