Copiapo (Chile), Oct 13 (DPA) Chilean rescuers Wednesday pulled up three more miners from the San Jose copper mine in the north of the country, bringing the total of those rescued to eight while the world held its breath and Chile cried tears of joy.
Osman Araya, aged about 30, was the sixth among the 33 miners to be brought up from the 622-metre deep shaft in the Phoenix capsule, the 54-cm-wide tube designed and built by the Chilean Navy.
The man, who had fainted during his stay of almost 70 days inside the mine, burst into tears and hugged his wife.
Araya was followed by Jose Ojeda, who suffers from diabetes, and by Claudio Yanez.
Even veteran television reporters broke into tears as miners emerged from the shaft where they had been trapped since Aug 5, embracing their loved ones while bells rang, car horns honked and strangers fell into each other’s arms.
‘Chi Chi Chi, Le Le Le, miners of Chile,’ crowds cheered at the rescue site, imitating football fans, while some people danced and red, white and blue balloons – the Chilean national colours – rose to the night sky.
‘Chile has kept its word to Chile, because we took an engagement not to … be defeated,’ President Sebastian Pinera said, glowing with pride.
Technicians first rescued Jimmy Sanchez, Carlos Mamani, Juan Illanes, Mario Sepulveda and Florencio Avalos. Rescuers were expected to take about 25 more hours to complete the operation.
Bolivian President Evo Morales was expected in Chile to meet with his countryman Mamani, the only non-Chilean among the miners.
A triumphant Florencio Avalos, 31, was the first miner to be pulled up. Wearing sunglasses to protect his eyes from the light as well as a helmet, he hugged his wife and tearful young son before thanking Pinera for the complex rescue effort.
The safe ascent through the narrow shaft took about 17 minutes.
Minutes later, Mario Sepulveda, 39, emerged from the depths. Sepulveda, who had improvised as presenter of the videos that the miners made in their captivity, was in great spirits, spurring on the rescuers before reaching the surface: ‘Come on, come on, come on!’
Spreading his arms to hug everyone from his wife to a rescuer and to Pinera, he displayed bits of rock he had carried as souvenirs from the bottom of the mine, shouting: ‘Viva Chile!’
‘I was with God and I was with the devil. They fought over me and God won. I grabbed the best hand,’ was how Sepulveda described his ordeal inside the mine.
‘Do not treat us like artists, like journalists. I want to be continued to be treated as Mario Sepulveda, a mineworker,’ Sepulveda advised the media.
Juan Illanes, 52, a former soldier, was the third man to be rescued. The ascent in the capsule was ‘like an amusement ride,’ he commented.
Jimmy Sanchez, 19, the fifth to be rescued, emerged from the mine in a less healthy condition, and was immediately put on a stretcher.
Euphoria gradually gave way to calm as the miners’ families began trusting in the success of the operation. ‘This is a wonder made by God,’ Avalos’ aunt said.
The miners have been trapped underground since the shaft they were working in collapsed Aug 5. For the first 17 days, the miners were completely isolated from the outside world and survived on a bite of tuna and a gulp of milk every 48 hours.
Immediately after being rescued, the miners are to be subjected to medical examinations at a field hospital set up at the rescue site. They will then be flown by military helicopter to the hospital in the nearby city of Copiapo.
It was the first known rescue of its kind from that depth in the history of underground accidents.
The rescue capsule is equipped with oxygen tanks, communication lines and special belts to monitor the miners’ vital signs. The men have been on a liquid diet to prevent nausea and boost blood pressure.
Shock absorber wheels along the side of the capsule are to keep it from bouncing off the walls. The shaft does not follow a straight line, but bends and twists through the rock.
The rescue was seen as a symbol of solidarity much needed in today’s world, analysts said.
‘The Earth has given birth to a son,’ Chilean national television enthused as the first rescued miner stepped out of the capsule.
