33 Miners trapped in Chile found ALIVE!!!

[kitten645]

Oh brother Richard! LOL!
I've been thinking about these guys all the time. I can't imagine. I would have definately not survived. I get claustrophobic wearing BOOTS! The idea of not being able to get out of a space would drive me to the brink.
I've heard that some millionaire has given them each $10,000 which in Chile is a BOATLOAD of money. Hopefully they can recover and prosper.
I really admire the team of medics that chose to go down into the shaft to help them. They are risking their own lives for others and are heros as well.
Good and positive thoughts for all. I hope 10/10/10 is a lucky day for everyone!

[Catty1]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/1...s_chile_miners

Chile rescuers reinforce shaft for miners' escape

50 minutes ago

By Cesar Illiano

COPIAPO, Chile (Reuters) - Chilean rescuers on Sunday 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 2,050 foot-long (625-meter) 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 330 feet 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," he added.

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 men's' 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 far northern 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 erected by the miners' families.

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, and yearns to hold his daughter for the first time.

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.

The men have set a world record for the length of time workers have survived underground after a mining accident. After spending so long below ground in a humid, dimly-lit tunnel, their eyesight will need time to adjust.

"They will come to the surface with their eyes closed and will immediately put on dark glasses which will protect them from the light," Health Minister Jaime Manalich said. "They will keep them on night and day ... until they get used to natural light."

The miners are in remarkably good health, although some have developed skin infections.

The government brought in a team of experts from the U.S. NASA space agency to help keep the men mentally and physically fit during the protracted rescue, which has gripped the world and drawn messages of support from Pope Benedict and World Cup soccer stars.

The men lost an estimated 22 pounds (10 kg) each in the 17 days before they were found.

(Writing by Simon Gardner and Helen Popper, editing by Philip Barbara)