Chile miners rescue hopes raised

The rescue shaft will be lined with steel tubes to protect the miners

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has said he hopes 33 trapped miners will be brought to the surface by the end of next week.

Mr Pinera said rescuers were “very close” to getting the men out, and he hoped they would be freed before his planned trip to Europe on 17 October.

Drills digging to reach the miners have been making rapid progress, shortening the expected rescue timetable.

The men have now been trapped underground for two months.

“We are very close to rescuing them,” Mr Pinera said, without naming a precise date when the rescue attempt would start.

“I hope we can rescue them before I go to Europe, I want to share that moment with the miners.”

Last week the government said the rescue attempt would begin in the second half of October, having previously said it would start in early November.

But the three drills racing to reach the men are advancing rapidly.

President Pinera has taken a close personal interest in the rescue effort

One escape shaft is now more than 460m (1509ft) deep, about 150m (492ft) short of an area of the mine that the men can reach.

Once the shaft is complete, it will lined with steel tubes to protect the men, an operation that could take several days.

Then a specially made rescue capsule, designed by the Chilean navy, will be lowered down.

The plan is for navy commandos to go down to assess the situation and help the miners use the rescue capsule.

It’s expected to take an hour to pull each of the trapped men to the surface.

Doctors say the miners have started exercising in preparation for the ride.

They are also getting training from public relations experts to help them cope with the attention of the world’s media once they emerge.

The miners have even begun to send prized possessions and mementos up to the surface using the small capsules, known as “doves,” in which they have been receiving supplies through narrow boreholes.

Miners’ relatives, who have been camping at the site for the last two months, are preparing a party to celebrate their rescue.

The men were trapped by a rockfall at the mine near Copiapo, about 725km (450 miles) north of the Chilean capital Santiago, on 5 August.

Rescuers had almost given up the search when they located the miners 17 days later.

They have survived being trapped underground for longer than any previous group.

As the rescue effort continued, other workers employed at the mine staged a protest on the surface, complaining that they had not been paid since the accident.

Chanting “there are more than 33 of us,” about 200 workers marched through the town of Copiapo to demand money they say they are owed.

The company which ran the mine has large debts, and is also facing lawsuits from the relatives of the trapped men.

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