By Juan Forero and Jonathan Franklin
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, October 13, 2010; 9:50 PM
AT THE SAN JOSE MINE, CHILE He had spent 69 exhausting days trapped far below the Earth's surface. So when Mario Sepulveda was finally rescued early Wednesday, he bear-hugged Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, danced a victory jig and punched his fist into the air while leading rescuers in a cheer that summed up the elation in this country.
This Story
*
Last of Chilean miners is rescued, as families and nation celebrate
*
Interactive timeline of rescues
*
PostLeadership: Luis Urzua: Chile's underground leader
*
Chile mine rescue completed; last miner is hoisted to safety
*
World news networks on Chilean miner rescue
*
Obama: Chile rescue has 'inspired the world'
*
Chileans see mine rescue as a rebirth for the country
*
Mine rescue draws scores of well-wishers to Chilean embassy in D.C.
*
Rescue of Chilean miners
*
Chilean miners almost free
*
Miner rises to meet mistress
*
First six miners freed in Chile
*
First of 33 trapped Chilean miners rescued
*
Workers reinforce rescue tunnel for Chilean miners
*
Drill breaks through to Chile's trapped miners
*
Chilean miners closer to freedom with rescue tunnel complete
*
Video: Chilean miners' underground life
*
Video tour of trapped Chilean miners refuge
View All Items in This Story
View Only Top Items in This Story
In a mesmerizing story of grit, endurance and triumph, the 33 men who had been stuck underground since their mine collapsed on Aug. 5 were hoisted to the surface, one by one, in a rescue celebrated across Chile and watched on live television worldwide. At 10:54 p.m., the last of the miners, Luis Urzua, the stoic foreman, was lifted from purgatory, capping off a flawless operation that lasted less than a day.
"I was with God, and I was with the devil," Sepulveda, 40, said upon reaching freedom. "They both fought for me. God won."
Sepulveda then bounded into a field hospital, hugging journalists, nurses and rescue personnel and saying "Thank you, thank you" to anyone within earshot. Stopping for a moment to talk, he told The Washington Post that he never doubted he would be extricated from the 2,000-foot-deep hole that he and the others called home for 10 weeks.
"We always knew that we would be rescued," he said. "We never lost faith."
The first to come up Tuesday night, Florencio Avalos, a 31-year-old, barrel-chested man, hugged his rescuers as the crowd whooped and cried with joy. He then walked into the field hospital, flopped down on a couch and exclaimed: "It's over. It's over at last."
The rescue effort, carefully orchestrated by Chilean engineers, included a 13-foot, cigar-shaped rescue capsule constructed with tips from NASA. An American from Denver, Jeff Hart, who had been drilling water wells in Afghanistan, drilled the escape shaft, 28 inches in diameter. And an innovative winch was installed to lower and then pull up the rescue vessel, which weighs nearly 1,000 pounds.
ad_icon
The miners, who had been in contact with the outside world through a narrow hole drilled Aug. 22, were given special diets to keep them from getting sick on their bumpy, spinning journey to freedom.
Pinera, who has yet to complete his first year in office, told his countrymen that they should be overjoyed at the rescue.
"I am convinced that Chile's greatest treasure is not copper, it is the miners," he said.
Hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide watched as an underground camera captured grainy video of each miner getting into the capsule for the journey up. The miners wore shorts in the cavern, where the temperatures and humidity are high, but switched to green work suits before getting into the capsule, dubbed the Phoenix. They put on helmets and special protective sunglasses so their eyes would not be damaged by the glare on the surface.
Once freed, Mario Gomez, at 63 the oldest miner, dropped to his knees, hugged his wife and said, "Thank you."
Posted By: DAVID JOHNSON
Wednesday, October 13th 2010 at 10:27PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
