Two Months Later, Chilean Mine Rescue Under Way

**Jimaz** · October-12-10, 06:05 PM

Two Months Later, Chilean Mine Rescue Under Way

Laurence Golborne, Chile’s now very popular mining minister, said at a crowded, televised news conference here this afternoon that the first rescue would occur “toward the end of the day,” in the “last quarter” of Tuesday. Mr. Golborne cautioned that rescuing all the men would take about 48 hours. “We are not about declaring mission accomplished,” he said....

News organizations in the United States planned large-scale coverage. CNN said its news shows would feature extensive coverage throughout the night and into Wednesday morning. MSNBC planned live broadcasts throughout the night. Fox News had an anchor on standby during the political shows that dominate its evening programming, with more anchors lined up through the night.

CNN's covering it now. The first one might not be out until midnight. Pretty exciting story to watch.

**maxx** · October-12-10, 08:08 PM

The back story is the same old story.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/c...28/mine-safety

SANTIAGO, Chile — When the dust settled several hours after the mine caved in on them, the 33 miners began climbing the emergency ladder in a ventilation shaft that would lead them to the surface 2,300 feet above. But they only got a third of the way.
The mine owners had never bothered to finish the ladder to the top....

Miner unions had continuously accused the San Jose mine for its faulty safety measures, but the company attracts workers with higher than average salaries and benefits. In 2004, miner Pedro Gonzalez died after a cave in. In 2006, a truck driver in the mine, Fernando Contreras, was also killed in an accident. That same year 182 workers were injured, 56 of them seriously, according to Vincenot Tobar, a risk management expert who worked for the company until late last year...

**gibran** · October-12-10, 08:24 PM

this slow recovery is because Obama didn't move quick enough ...opps wrong country....this emphasizes the reality that we really don't need mining, nor health, nor airline, nor industrial regulations... we just should let our big business do the right thing.

**oldredfordette** · October-12-10, 08:25 PM

Let's pray that the rescue succeeds, and they all come out safely. I can't imagine the stress the men and their families are going through.

**ggores** · October-12-10, 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by maxx

The back story is the same old story.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/c...28/mine-safety

SANTIAGO, Chile —
Miner unions had continuously accused the San Jose mine for its faulty safety measures, but the company attracts workers with higher than average salaries and benefits.

Mining is perilous & profitable. Whether mining for coal, copper, gold, diamond, silver, or ruby... there is NO way this trade can be risk-free. Every miner knows that, right from the get-go, you stand a 60% chance of a catastrophic event at some point in your "career".

This is an incredible story. To think that the Chilean Government stepped in so quickly, and so, ummm, caringly, and so intelligently, speaks volumes about how Government response can be to a capitalistic tragedy. And yet the Mainstream Media is trying to puff up the angle of how the money, media attention, and in-family wrangling will turn this into an Exclusive NBC Nightly News report. Get 'em out, hook them up and send them home. Story done. And done.

**Jimaz** · October-12-10, 09:59 PM

Great risk. Great drama. Human beings saving fellow human beings. Imagine that. This care for our fellow human beings so rarely happens nowadays.

People really do matter at last.

**Jimaz** · October-12-10, 10:11 PM

Yea! He's free! First survivor escapes!

**Jimaz** · October-12-10, 10:55 PM

Second miner has been launched!

Stosh · October-12-10, 11:06 PM

I'm waiting for the one with a mistress.

**Jimaz** · October-12-10, 11:09 PM

Second miner has emerged!

**Jimaz** · October-12-10, 11:31 PM

That's a 14 minute ascent for the second survivor. That amounts to 28 * 31 remaining survivors = a minimum of 14 more hours of rescue. I can't stay up that late.

Great story though.

Enjoy. I'm out.

lilpup · October-13-10, 06:10 AM

BBC livestreaming from the location - above and occasionally below ground camera feeds: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11489439

**gazhekwe** · October-13-10, 08:01 AM

I am stuck to the live feed. It is wonderful to see this rescue effort succeeding. Only 24 left including the rescuers, as number 12 ascends.

**Pam** · October-13-10, 09:11 AM

Why do we still need human miners anyway? Can't they build robots to do it?

**gazhekwe** · October-13-10, 10:13 AM

I make it 36 minutes between when #14 and #15 landed. Wow, that is great.

**Johnlodge** · October-13-10, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by Pam

Why do we still need human miners anyway? Can't they build robots to do it?

Because it forms as a habit and seeps in your soul, till the blood in your veins runs as black as the coal. Like the fiend with his dope, or the drunkard his wine, a man will have lust for the lure of the mine.

**Bigb23** · October-13-10, 11:05 AM

Let's not forget our own Sago mine disaster, that killed twelve men. They seem to have a better handle on things in the middle of a South American desert, than we had in a populated State with many mines.

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. -- Trapped deep below ground by poisonous gases, the Sago miners realized at least four of their air packs did not work and were forced to share the devices as they desperately pounded away with a sledgehammer in hopes of letting rescuers know where to find them, the sole survivor says.
Then, resigned to their fate, the men recited a "sinner's prayer," scrawled farewell notes to their loved ones, and succumbed, one after another, some as if drifting off to sleep.

"As my trapped co-workers lost consciousness one by one, the room grew still and I continued to sit and wait, unable to do much else," Randal McCloy Jr. wrote to his co-workers' families in a letter dated Wednesday and obtained by The Associated Press.

Though state and federal investigators have reached no official conclusions about the cause of the explosion, ICG officials say they believe it was caused by a lightning bolt that ignited a buildup of naturally occurring methane.

The Bush administration is reviewing air packs and other safety equipment used in the nation's mines after previously scrapping similar initiatives started by the Clinton administration.

**rjk** · October-13-10, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by Stosh

I'm waiting for the one with a mistress.

Isn't there more than one?

The Mistress wannabes will be coming out of the woodwork. Anyone with an inkling that one of these guys might be the father of their child is going to see dollar signs. Great story, but the fallout from this will be interesting to watch.

**Pam** · October-13-10, 12:57 PM

Originally Posted by Johnlodge

Because it forms as a habit and seeps in your soul, till the blood in your veins runs as black as the coal. Like the fiend with his dope, or the drunkard his wine, a man will have lust for the lure of the mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CP8FgkmBpA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhmgh9dEJKs

**Gistok** · October-13-10, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by rjk

Isn't there more than one?

The Mistress wannabes will be coming out of the woodwork. Anyone with an inkling that one of these guys might be the father of their child is going to see dollar signs. Great story, but the fallout from this will be interesting to watch.

Yeah, I got quite a chuckle when I read this about wives and mistresses....

"Miners had to describe their physical and mental health in detail with teams of doctors and psychologists. In some cases, when both wives and lovers claimed the same man, everyone involved had to face the consequences."

**johnsmith** · October-13-10, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by Pam

Why do we still need human miners anyway? Can't they build robots to do it?

Cost. If it was cheaper or even plausible for R2D2 and Bender to do the mining, it certainly would be done.

lilpup · October-13-10, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by Stosh

I'm waiting for the one with a mistress.

He #21, Yonni Barrios, coming up now.

**jcole** · October-13-10, 02:35 PM

I'll bet his wife was thrilled that his mistress got to greet him with a kiss on world wide TV

**gazhekwe** · October-13-10, 02:50 PM

Yonni's wife was there, I didn't see a mistress? I think it was Claudio Yanez Lagos who had the girlfriend and the wife there. The girlfriend didn't kiss him, but did kiss the mining minister, according to the blog.

[Updated at 6:02 a.m. ET, 7:02 a.m. Chile time] Claudio Yanez' girlfriend kissed the mining minister as he arrived at the top of the rescue chamber, becoming the eighth miner to emerge after being underground for more than two months.
Wearing glasses to protect his eyes from the change in light, Yanez ran towards his loved ones and engaged in a long embrace with his wife. He then went to hug his two daughters, the youngest who was crying and rubbing her father's back. He held his daughters as he went and thanked each rescuer one at a time.

**jcole** · October-13-10, 02:55 PM

According to the related article, the woman on the right is the wife. I didn't see her there on the network I was watching. The lighter haired woman was the mistress. I think his sister was invited to be there too.

Marta Salinas [[right) wife of trapped miner Yonni Barrios, will not greet him on his return to the surface after it emerged he was having an affair with Susana Valenzuela [[left)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...greet-him.html