Thirty-three Chilean miners are miraculously alive, 17 days after being trapped in a collapsed shaft. President Sabastian Pinera reported the good news today, after rescuers lowered a probe into the mine, which was sent back with a note attached saying they were all fine. Apparently, they survived by burrowing a hole under their shelter to a hidden water supply. The eldest, 63-year-old Mario Gomez, sent up a letter to his wife: “Dear Liliana, I’m well, thank God. I hope to get out soon. Have patience and faith.
But drilling a hole wide enough—26 inches in diameter—to get the miners out of their shaft shelter some 2,300 feet below is expected to take “at least 120 days,” according to the engineer heading the rescue. Rescuers plan to send narrow plastic tubes down the existing narrow borehole to get them food, hydration gels and cameras and microphones so that they can communicate with loved ones.
