Trapped Chilean miners: rescue shaft nears cavern

Relief shaft could break through to miners by Saturday but bringing men to the surface could take up to eight days

Sam Jones and agencies

Friday 8 October 2010 guardian.co.uk.==================================================
The drilling of a new shaft to rescue the 33 trapped Chilean miners could be completed by tomorrow, according to the country's mining minister.

Laurence Golborne said one of three giant drills working to free the miners was now just 89 metres from the cavern where the men have been stuck since 5 August.

"We hope it will reach [them] by the weekend … by Saturday," he said, adding that a technical decision would then have to be made about whether or not to line the shaft with metal.

"The rescue process will take a few days. If we line it, then it could take eight days. If we don't, it could take two or three days, depending on how the installation of the crane and the rescue systems goes."

Using steel piping to line the walls of the new shaft has advantages and drawbacks: while it could reduce the risk of a rockfall or other obstruction jamming the rescue capsule, its insertion could also clog the hole or knock rock loose. And if sections of the pipe break apart, the rescue would be set back significantly.

Golborne said the finished shaft would be thoroughly examined with a video camera, and only then would engineers decide whether to reinforce it.

"They are all possible alternatives," he said. "There are risks and benefits we have to think about."

Rescue workers believe it could take around 48 hours to bring all the miners to the surface.

The evacuation will begin only after they have been examined by a team of Chilean naval paramedics and mining rescue experts who will journey down the shaft to evaluate them.

Then the men will be strapped, one at a time, into a capsule for the 15-20 minute journey to the surface.

The paramedics will also have the authority to change a pre-prepared list that details the order of the miners' rescue based on their physical and mental condition.

Commander Renato Navarro, the Chilean navy's submarine chief, said the list was based on daily examinations of the miners' physical and psychological health and their strength of character during their captivity.

"The most able miners will leave first – those who can better describe to the next how they might avoid the potential problems that the capsule might encounter," said Navarro. "Then those with illnesses or who suffer from one problem or another. And finally the last to surface are the strongest physically or in terms of their character."

Navarro would not reveal the list's suggested order, adding that the paramedics would have "the last word" anyway.

Among the most physically fit of the miners is Edison Pena, an athlete who said he has been running 10km a day down below.

Next come those with chronic illnesses, such as José Ojeda, who has diabetes, and Jorge Galleguillos, who has high blood pressure, and those who are older, such as Mario Gómez, 63.

Last up will be those considered most capable of handling the anxiety of being left behind as their comrades disappear one by one.

Candidates include the paramedic Yonny Barrios, or José Henríquez, who has been leading twice-daily prayer sessions. But many people believe the last man up will be shift supervisor Luis Urzúa, whose disciplined leadership was credited with keeping the men alive on an emergency food supply during their first 17 days without contact from the outside world.

"It could be Urzúa, but it's still not confirmed. The concept of a captain being the last one to abandon ship could be applied," said Navarro.

Those who know Urzúa are sure he will insist on going last.

"He's going to prefer that his team leaves ahead of him," said Robinson Márquez, a neighbour and former co-worker of Urzúa, whom he describes as extremely patient and calm.

"He's going to make sure that all of the men leave, and leave well," added Márquez's wife, Angelica Vicencio, who has led a nightly vigil outside the Urzúa home in Copiapó.

"He's a very good guy – he keeps everybody's spirits up and is so responsible – he's going to see this through to the end."

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