Chile rescuers reinforce shaft for miners
Source: Agencies |
October 11, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHILEAN rescuers yesterday reinforced an escape shaft to hoist 33 miners to freedom, bringing their stunning survival story close to its climax two months after they were trapped deep underground.
Engineers have drilled a narrow, nearly 625-metre shaft to evacuate the men, who have been using explosives to make room for a special capsule dubbed "Phoenix" that will lift them one-by-one to the surface.
The rescuers were inserting metal tubes to line the first 100 metres of the duct to strengthen it, and the government expects to start the evacuation on Wednesday in one of the most complex rescue attempts in mining history.
"At the moment, we're starting to send down the first tubes," said Andre Sougarret, who is leading the rescue operations. "We hope to finish putting the tubing in place within the next 24 hours."
More than two months have passed since the men were trapped when the mine collapsed.
Spontaneous celebrations broke out across Chile on Saturday as news of the drilling breakthrough spread.
After weeks of prayers, vigils and simply waiting, there was laughter and music at the make-shift camp called Camp Hope that relatives have set up near the mouth of the mine.
Drivers honked car horns in the capital Santiago and people waved flags in towns across a country still recovering from the ravages of a massive February 27 earthquake.
The mens' relatives - who danced, sang, cheered and sobbed when the drill broke through 65 days after the August 5 collapse at the small gold and copper mine in Chile's Atacama desert - could barely wait.
"I have held back tears until now, but the joy is now too great," said Cristina Nunez, whose partner Claudio Nunez is among the trapped. "I'm so happy he will be with us by my daughter's birthday!"
Among the families is weeks-old baby girl Esperanza, or "Hope," whose father is trapped miner Ariel Ticona. Ticona's wife, Elizabeth, named their daughter after the camp.
Ticona saw the birth on a video sent down a narrow bore hole that served as a life line to pass water and food to keep the men alive during the ordeal.
Once the men are winched to the surface, they will be given astronaut-style medical checks in a field hospital set up at the mine.
Then they will be able to spend some time with their families, before being flown by helicopter to nearby Copiapo to be stabilized at another hospital, officials said.
Engineers have drilled a narrow, nearly 625-metre shaft to evacuate the men, who have been using explosives to make room for a special capsule dubbed "Phoenix" that will lift them one-by-one to the surface.
The rescuers were inserting metal tubes to line the first 100 metres of the duct to strengthen it, and the government expects to start the evacuation on Wednesday in one of the most complex rescue attempts in mining history.
"At the moment, we're starting to send down the first tubes," said Andre Sougarret, who is leading the rescue operations. "We hope to finish putting the tubing in place within the next 24 hours."
More than two months have passed since the men were trapped when the mine collapsed.
Spontaneous celebrations broke out across Chile on Saturday as news of the drilling breakthrough spread.
After weeks of prayers, vigils and simply waiting, there was laughter and music at the make-shift camp called Camp Hope that relatives have set up near the mouth of the mine.
Drivers honked car horns in the capital Santiago and people waved flags in towns across a country still recovering from the ravages of a massive February 27 earthquake.
The mens' relatives - who danced, sang, cheered and sobbed when the drill broke through 65 days after the August 5 collapse at the small gold and copper mine in Chile's Atacama desert - could barely wait.
"I have held back tears until now, but the joy is now too great," said Cristina Nunez, whose partner Claudio Nunez is among the trapped. "I'm so happy he will be with us by my daughter's birthday!"
Among the families is weeks-old baby girl Esperanza, or "Hope," whose father is trapped miner Ariel Ticona. Ticona's wife, Elizabeth, named their daughter after the camp.
Ticona saw the birth on a video sent down a narrow bore hole that served as a life line to pass water and food to keep the men alive during the ordeal.
Once the men are winched to the surface, they will be given astronaut-style medical checks in a field hospital set up at the mine.
Then they will be able to spend some time with their families, before being flown by helicopter to nearby Copiapo to be stabilized at another hospital, officials said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
