El gran rescate (the grand rescue) of the trapped miners a success!

As we write this (2342H Manila time, 13 October, Wednesday), 16 of the 33 trapped miners have been brought back to the surface from their refuge 700 meters below the earth.

The escape capsule called Phoenix first went down at 23:36PM (Chile, 12 October) and came up with the first survivor at 00:12AM (Chile, 13 October), the stoutest of them, Florencio Avalos.  The second, Mario Sepulveda had a bagful of rocks to distribute to the rescuers as souvenirs, and he went around to cheer the welcoming crowd.  Carlos Mamani, a Bolivian and the only foreigner among the miners, was the fourth.

On hand to welcome them back together with tearful yet joyful families was President Sebastian Pinera himself.

Luis Urzua, the leader of the 33 miners, will be the last to go up; he was quoted as saying the captain is the last to abandon ship.

11October top story on the last 3 to be raised.

 For an appreciation of how the grand rescue was mounted using a new technology, El Mercurio printed out graphic illustrations of the entire story in two-page features below, topmost on 13 October and the bottom on 10 October. These are easy to follow (and understand) even if one does not know Spanish.

13 October spreads.

10 October spreads.

Rescue drill reaches trapped Chilean miners!

The scene at 8:30PM, Friday, October 8, before T-130 drilled the final 40 meters of rock that separates the 33 miners from the outside world.

It was a race among Plans A, B, and C of drilling from three places. It was Plan B that reached the miners first, sixty-six days after the San Jose mine collapsed and trapped them about 750 meters below the earth on 05 August.

Inside page, El Mercurio, 09 October, 2010.

 According to the reports, the drillers, the miners' families, and the miners themselves erupted in cheers when the drill broke through the rock.  The jubilation of the miners were heard via radio.

Through all these days, the families and the media have kept the miners in company above them, calling their campsite Esperanza.


"An extraordinary array of international talent had been gathered and new rescue techniques pioneered on the fly to plow through rock without compromising the miners’ safety," the New York Times reported. "Chilean officials brought in advisers from NASA, custom-built steel rescue capsules and even fed the trapped miners meat pies baked in the form of cylinders to be slipped down a narrow hole more than 2,050 feet below the surface."

The escape capsule is already at the other side of the drill tip.  El Mercurio said the rescue operations may start between the evening of Monday and Tuesday; and the New York Times said it will likely be on "Wednesday at the earliest before the miners catch their first glimpse of sunlight and breath of fresh air."

The drillers have been in constant radio contact with the miners especially when the drill tip first appeared to the latter so that "the driller could slow the machinery down, to avoid a sudden breakthrough of the entire drill, which would have put undue strain on the equipment."

The miners themselves will have to blow some places around the escape hole with dynamite to provide wider room for the escape capsules called Phoenix, by which they will be raised one by one.

"The miners will be extracted one at a time, with two capsules alternating voyages," said the New York Times. "Each capsule contains tanks of oxygen-enriched air, a hands-free phone and retractable rollers to protect it as it bounces along the wall." [See illustration from the Hoy of Ecuador, and picture of one of the capsules being tested from El Mercurio, both above.]   

 

"It remains to be decided in what order they will emerge, although officials said Friday that the strongest would likely come out first, partly so they could help guide the rescue effort at the top, advising the emergency crews on conditions below. But officials also want the fittest on the first trips in case the capsule gets stuck and needs to be physically dislodged. 
"Those in poorer health would go next, and then the rest."

The miners would be back with their families very much earlier than the initial estimate. 

33 Chilean trapped miners celebrate their country's bicentennial

Last Saturday, 18 September, the whole of Chile--including the 33 miners trapped 750 meters under the earth--celebrated the 200th anniversary of their independence.  "Con gestos y espiritu de unidad," bannered the El Mercurio, "Chile mira al futuro y celebra sus 200 anos  (With action and spirit of unity, Chile looks at the future and celebrates its 200 years)."
 
The next day, the bottom picture, front page of Ultimas Noticias showed one miner dancing to the beat of "La Consentida," probably a popular song in Chile.  The inside feature said the 33 miners celebrated their bicentennial "pura alegria" (pure joy) as they sang loudly and danced ("cantaron a todo pulmon y hasta bailaron cueca"); they also hoisted their flag simultaneously with the ceremonies up on the earth above them.

El Mercurio said at the bottom of the page that the drilling machine has 624 meters below the earth, and is now in the final phase of the rescue operations.

The Hoy of Ecuador on the same day said the driller--commissioned by the Chilean military--has gone 630 meters down, and the front page had an illustration of the equipment with a description of its features: it's a steel plated and cylindrical; 2.5 meters tall - enough to accommodate one man; has an oxygen line, wheels for damping, an intercommunicator, bandages to prevent damage to the eyes, and a door coated with 3mm of transparent polycarbonate; and it's provided with a escape system in case the equipment gets stuck on the way - the person can open the bottom door and descends with a rope.

The miners shaved and wore red shirts during their celebration down under.  They may be home for Christmas!

Two-year old Ardi Rizal has quit smoking!

The front page subject is Indonesian, the news magazine is Chilean - Las Ultimas Noticias, 3rd September 2010 edition.  Two hemispheres apart ... the human interest is global indeed!

http://www.lun.com/

He is Ardi Rizal--no relation whatsoever to the national hero of the Philippines, Jose Rizal--the two-year old Indonesian boy who was in the world news earlier this year because of his cigarette addiction.  He chain-smoked 40 cigarettes a day.

Because of the international attention he received, Ardi was brought to Jakarta for medical check-up and was subsequently placed in a rehabilitation center.

He has been completely weaned from his addiction, and has been brought home to his family.  YouTube has two accounts of his rehabilitation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C63vv6dcg_w&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNmBl2Ma5fo&NR=1

There's also Tong Liangliang of China as old as Ardi, and similarly addicted, who was in the news in 2009.  Las Noticias remembered him and inserted his picture in the inside story about Ardi, and wondered what has happened to him.

A long wait for the trapped Chilean miners

Hopefully, new dredging technology will bring them out--33 Chilean miners who are trapped 700 meters below the earth in a work station of a gold-and-silver mine--but it will not be soon.  At most sixty days!

They've been given food and fresh air through a narrow borehole. NASA scientists are now providing advisories so that the miners would be able to cope psychologically with a long isolation down there.

A camera has gone down to provide the outside world a glimpse of how they're faring (see some of them the front page of El Mercurio, below). 

http://www.diario.elmercurio.com/

And a telephone line is now in place. Franklin Lobos was first to connect to the outside world. He was hooked up to his daughter, and he chided her for not going to school.  The front page cover of the magazine Las Ultimas Noticias below shows him beaming from the underground (inset).

http://www.lun.com

The world can only pray that they will be able to come out alive, healthy and sound in body and mind.