Chile announces important advance on miner rescue
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Rescuers who will extract the trapped miners stand at the San Jose Mine, 800 km north of Chilean capital Santiago, on Oct. 6, 2010. The 33 miners have been trapped 700 meters underground for two months by far as the rescue operation hopefully enters its final phase. [Xinhua/Jorge Villegas] |
Rescue chief Andre Sougarret said Wednesday that one of the drills working to rescue the 33 miners trapped in northern Chile surpassed the 500 meters deep level.
Sougarret said that this weekend, the machine could reach the workshop next to the shelter where the miners have been traped since Aug. 5, when the San Jose mine collapsed.
Sougarret published the message in his Twitter account, "we surpassed the 500 meters level with Plan B," which is working to widen the well to allow the rescue of the miners.
Once Plan B reaches the workshop next to the miners' shelter, the rescue team will send a TV camera to review the well and decide if it is necessary to reinforce the well. The reinforcement of the well could delay the rescue, but it would prevent accidents.
On Aug. 22 the Chilean authorities announced they had made contact with the miners through a sound and all of them were alive, since then the miners' relatives set up a camp outside the mine waiting for them to be rescued.
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