Chile miners' rescue is imminent, say experts

Source: Guardian

Chile miners' rescue is imminent, say experts
Trapped men could be rescued in just 10 days as massive drill is '48 hours away' from reaching refuge 700 metres underground

Jonathan Franklin at the San José mine, Copiapo g
ian.co.uk, Monday 4 October 2010 13.49 BST

The 33 Chilean miners trapped in a collapsed mine for the past two months could be rescued within the next 10 days. In a dramatic acceleration of the rescue plans, a massive drill is now within 48 hours of boring hundreds of metres through solid rock to the men's refuge nearly 700 metre's underground.

Once the hole has been completed, a metal lining will be placed inside the tube, allowing for a more uniform surface and easier escape for the trapped miners who will be placed inside a rescue capsule dubbed The Phoenix, then slowly hauled to the surface. Given the unique nature of the miner rescue, every stage of the operation has been fraught with uncertainty and innovation. Engineers now estimate it will take two to six days to install the metal tubing.

Once complete a commando from the Chilean Navy will be lowered into the mine to evaluate the miner's health and divide them into three groups: the able, the weak, the most able. The men will be evacuated in that order. Each man will be slowly winched one by one from their underground prison in a harrowing ride that is expected to take five to 15 minutes. Sedatives will be given to the men if necessary to calm them for the journey.

On Monday, construction workers scrambled to complete a helipad for the rescue operation. Once the men are stabilised they will be transferred first to an army base, then to a public hospital in the city of Copiapo. There they will be kept under observation for two days, but given the anxiety of family members to reunite, many are expected to head home sooner.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/04/chile-miners-rescue-imminent

Rec.

I thought they were supposed to be about 30" in diameter, which is the width of the average doorway.

but they all lived for many days on water and a TINY morsel of food for 3 weeks, I think, before people on the surface could lower a very narrow food with liquid food for them at first.

Here's a story from August:

Miners' deep motivation: Stay slim or stay in mine
Associated Press
Aug. 26, 2010, 6:49AM

COPIAPO, Chile — Put on a show. Play cards. Sing. Get exercise. And whatever you do, don't get too fat to squeeze through the escape tunnel.

~snip~
The miners were trapped by an Aug. 5 collapse, and rescuers established contact with them Sunday by drilling a 6-inch-wide hole to the shelter. That hole and two others are now lifelines, delivering supplies, communications and fresh air to the miners while they wait for the escape tunnel to be drilled.

~snip~
The miners made a two-day emergency food supply last more than two weeks as they waited for contact from the outside world, and also conserved power from their headlamps before rescuers sent them LED lights. They remain days away from being able to eat solid food because they went hungry for so long. Rescuers have sent down a high-energy glucose gel, and on Wednesday they gave the miners cans of a milk-like drink enriched with calories and protein.

Goal: 35-inch waists
Even though the miners have undoubtedly lost a significant amount of weight, Chilean officials are trying to ensure they don't bulk up before their rescue. They say the miners will have to be no more than 35 inches (90 centimeters) around the waist to make it out of the tunnel.

The escape tunnel will be about 26 inches (66 centimeters) wide — the diameter of a typical bike tire — and stretch for more than 2,200 feet (688 meters) through solid rock. That's more than 80 inches (207 centimeters) in circumference, but rescuers also have to account for the space of the basket that will be used to pull the miners to safety.

Most Americans couldn't meet the 35-inch limit. The average U.S. waistline is 39.7 inches for men and 37 inches for women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Chile's health minister, Dr. Jaime Manalich, said officials are planning exercise and other activities to keep the miners healthy and trim, using some of the passages that remain accessible to the miners.

More:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/7172225.html

Those poor men! It will be wonderful when they are rescued. And they must be some tough hombres to have been able to endure this for so long! I mean, can any one of us even begin to IMAGINE what they've been through?

I wish them well!

Reason number 15 in a never-ending series on why I couldn't possibly be a miner. It would probably take the other 32 every ounce of their energy to keep from going batshit insane. Trapped underground may not be my number 1 irrational fear, but it's in the top three.

I wish I could time a visit to Chile to coincide with the national celebration that's probably going to erupt when they get them home.

I saw a video of those guys underground...still upbeat, still workin. Amazing human spirit on display.

Especially the extra humane and thoughtful statement that the rescued miners will be given sedatives if they want them. I imagine the 15 minute ride up the shaft inside a tube where you have to stand in a tight cage won't be a picnic for anyone.

I am delighted that these miners may be rescued so soon. I had such terrible fears that they would all perish from the inability to rescue them. Now it seems people are willing to try anything new to get them out. This is inspiring.

Chile president sees miners rescued before Oct. 15
By VIVIAN SEQUERA Associated Press Writer
Published: Monday, October 4, 2010 at 6:09 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, October 4, 2010 at 6:09 p.m.

Chile's president said Monday that his government is "very close" to pulling 33 trapped miners to safety and he hopes to be there in person to see the rescue before leaving on a trip to Europe.

It was Sebastian Pinera who told the miners after they were found alive Aug. 22 that they would be saved by Christmas, and his government has assembled a team of hundreds to support them while three simultaneous drilling operations pound escape shafts through a half-mile of rock.

The drilling has gone well enough to move up the date since then, but rescue leaders have been cautious: Only last week, they estimated a late-October pullout.

Now the president has changed the expected date again, to before his Oct. 15-22 trip.

More:
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20101004/API/1010041812

90% of what I have read about this has been provided by you on DU.

Thanks!

:toast:

As rescue drill nears, miners in Chile still have long way to go
By Patrick Oppmann, CNN
October 5, 2010 6:16 a.m. EDT

Copiapo, Chile (CNN) -- With 160 meters to go until the Plan B drill reaches 33 trapped miners, a breakthrough to the men may be imminent.

Then what?

At Camp Hope, the makeshift tent city where hundreds of family members are living, widespread celebrations will likely break out as the miners' loved ones receive news they have waited for more than 60 days to hear. But despite any euphoria, the rescue operation will be entering its most dangerous phase for the men.

Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne made clear to reporters Saturday that the operation can only be called a success if all the men are rescued from the mine safely. "We haven't rescued anyone here," Golborne said. "We have to be very conservative, nothing is finished."

Officials said they expect to have the men above ground between October 15 and October 30.

If the Plan B drill reaches the 624 meters (2,047 feet) to the trapped men, the miners will be closer than ever to freedom. But they will still have a long way to go before their actual rescue.

Officials said they are still considering whether to line the completed mine shaft with steel casing. The operation would call for reinforcing the 70-centimeter (28-inch) hole with 26 steel tubes, each 24 meters (79 feet) in height. The casing would also provide a buffer between the mine walls and rescue capsules.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/05/chile.miners.rescue.plan/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Saturday, October 9, 2010
Rescuers hope to reach trapped Chilean miners within 24 hours
By Michael Warren, San Jose Mine, Chile
Saturday, October 09, 2010

RESCUERS hope to reach the 33 miners trapped underground in Chile within 24 hours, the mining minister says.

Laurence Golborne said drilling equipment was being changed in preparation for the final push, but it is understood the rescue operation will not begin until Tuesday.

Engineers said the shaft was now just 112ft from the chamber. An elite group of rescuers was preparing last night to join the 33 trapped Chilean miners to help them return to safety.

These men – three paramedics with the Chilean navy’s special forces and 13 rescue experts with the mining company Codelco – will work in shifts during the 48 hours it could take to evaluate the men and strap them into the escape capsule for their 15-20 minute ride to the surface.

Chile’s mining minister says a shaft wide enough to provide an escape for the men trapped 2,000 feet down should reach them by today.

The paramedics will be empowered to change a list, already prepared, that suggests the order of the miners’ rescue.

More:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/rescuers-hope-to-reach-trapped-chilean-miners-within-24-hours-133054.html

(sniff!)

This story just gets me every time it comes up in LBN.... So glad to see them finally getting out, sooner than later.