...

First of 33 miners safe above ground (UPDATE)

Other News Materials 13 October 2010 09:17 (UTC +04:00)
A triumphant Florencio Avalos, 31, emerged safe above ground late Tuesday, the first of 33 miners to be rescued after more than two months trapped deep underground, dpa reported.
First of 33 miners safe above ground (UPDATE)

A triumphant Florencio Avalos, 31, emerged safe above ground late Tuesday, the first of 33 miners to be rescued after more than two months trapped deep underground, dpa reported.

He stepped out of the Phoenix capsule, the 54-cm-wide tube designed and built by the Chilean Navy, to jubilation, cheers and applause.

The safe ascent through the narrow, 622-m deep shaft took about 17 minutes. Progress could be seen in the large winch wheel as it turned.

It was the first known rescue of its kind from this depth in the history of underground accidents. If all goes well, it will be the largest known number of people ever rescued from an underground accident.

Second in command at the mine at the time of the accident, Avalos was chosen for his poise, as a man who could get rescue teams valuable information on his way up and deal calmly with any problems that might arise.

Still wearing dark glasses against the unaccustomed bright lights and a helmet, Avalos - whose younger brother Renan remains trapped below - hugged and kissed his wife and tearful son.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and members of the rescue team embraced Avalos, known as a quiet, shy man who preferred staying behind the camera, recording the broadcasts sent from the mine during the two-month ordeal.

Before he emerged, Avalos' family gathered at a communal tent set up for brief family greetings before the men are shipped off for medical exams at a field tent, followed by a helicopter ride to a nearby hospital in Copiapo.

Amid a crowd of reporters, the miner's uncles Alberto and Wilson Avalos escorted his father Alfonso Avalos and the trapped worker's wife, Monica Araya.

"We are very glad and happy. Thanks be to the Lord," said Wilson Avalos.

Florencio Avalos boarded the Phoenix capsule just minutes after the capsule arrived underground carrying rescue worker Manuel Gonzalez.

Cheering miners, who were mostly barechested and in shorts appropriate for the 35-degree-plus temperatures inside the mine, greeted Gonzelez as he disembarked from Phoenix, according to live video broadcast from underground.

The miners will need warm clothes when they get to the surface, where Atacama desert temperatures are below zero.

Gonzalez was the first to board the pioneering capsule and drop into the narrow channel into the depths.

As a fellow rescue worker helped him into the narrow vehicle said: "Imagine you're at the beach."

"All Chileans are going down with you," Pinera had told Gonzalez minutes before he started on the perilous journey.

"Bring us back the miners," Pinera added.

Gonzalez, a veteran with 12 years' experience in rescues, particularly in the mining sector, gave instructions to Avalos.

The miners have been trapped underground since the shaft they were working in collapsed on August 5. For the first 17 days of their ordeal, the miners were completely isolated from the outside world and survived on a bite of tuna and a gulp of milk every 48 hours.

The miners have lost an average of 10 kilograms or so, partly due to their circumstances and partly to slim down to fit into the narrow 54-cm capsule.

Shock absorber wheels along the side of the capsule are to keep the capsule from bouncing off the walls. The shaft does not follow a straight line, but bends and twists through the rock.

Earlier, Chilean authorities had tested the rescue shaft with an empty capsule, a metal cage named Phoenix after the mythical bird that rises from the ashes.

Two more rescue workers, including a medical rescue specialist, will descend on subsequent journeys. On the return shuttle, the second and third miners - Mario Sepulveda, 39, and Juan Illanes, 52, are to be hoisted.

The three rescue workers are to assist the miners as they prepare to travel up, and tell them what to expect.

The capsule is equipped with oxygen tanks, communication lines and special belts to monitor the miner's vital signs. The miners have been on a liquid diet to prevent nausea and boost blood pressure.

CNN reported that the miners donned special compression socks and corsets to keep up their blood circulation during the way up.

Latest

Latest