Santiago, Sep 15 (IANS/EFE) One of the 33 miners trapped in a Chilean mine since Aug 5 has been blessed with a daughter after his wife gave birth to their child in a hospital.
Esperanza, which means ‘hope’, was delivered at 12.00 p.m. Tuesday in a hospital in Copiapo city, some 800 km from Santiago. She weighed three kilograms and measured 48 cm.
The name of Ariel and Elisabeth Ticona’s daughter was inspired by ‘Camp Hope’, set up by 200 relatives of the miners outside the San Jose mine.
After the delivery Elisabeth said the only thing she wants now is for her husband ‘to come out and get to know the little girl’.
She said that a relative had filmed the delivery and the videotape will be sent to the mine, where the 29-year-old father – who already has two sons – will be able to see his first daughter come into the world.
Seven hundred metres below ground, another miner Victor Zamora is also expecting a child with his wife Jessica, who is 13 weeks pregnant.
Meanwhile, the rescue teams are finalizing details of resuming drilling to extract the miners after they halted their work about four days ago, officials said.
