Chile miners: waiting game for families

Families of the miners trapped deep underground in Chile must wait at least another three days to see their loved ones for the first time since the start of August.

Rescuers are reinforcing an escape shaft to hoist the 33 men to freedom. They finished drilling it on Saturday. Specially-designed capsules are poised to hoist them one at a time to the surface.

Engineers must insert metal tubes to line the first 100 metres of the duct to strengthen it. Chilean government officials say the evacuation will begin on Wednesday – one of the most complex rescue attempts in mining history.

The rest of the escape shaft is exposed rock, and the rescue team has decided it is strong enough to provide for a smooth ride for the miners’ escape capsule.

The law permits me to mine into the roof but you must leave a 10 metre bridge so it holds the mountain up. You cannot drill into that bridge. In San Jose they started drilling into it, so it collapsed. Sergio Barcaza

Chile’s mining minister Laurence Golborne set the date after the shaft was inspected with a video camera following the completion of the hole.

“We hope to start the evacuation process on Wednesday,” Golborne told reporters.

He said the miners staged a controlled explosion down in the mine on Saturday afternoon to clear rock to make room for the escape capsules, Phoenix 1, 2 and 3, to start work.

Channel 4 News has learned that three of the trapped men are suffering serious mental health conditions, many have skin problems and respiratory infections.

Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller went to a nearby mine, Bellavista, to get a sense of the conditions these men have survived in for two months. The crew drove two miles deep into the mountain where manager Sergio Barcaza gave his views on the San Jose disaster.

He said: “In my opinion it collapsed first because it’s a very old mine and second because they had a bad system.

“This it how it should be done – you must maintain a strong ceiling.

“The law permits me to mine into the roof but you must leave a 10 metre bridge so it holds the mountain up.

“You cannot drill into that bridge. In San Jose they started drilling into it, so it collapsed.”

Celebrations broke out across Chile as news of the drilling breakthrough spread, with horns honking in the capital Santiago and flags waved in towns across the country.

Relatives waiting at the gold and copper mine in Chile’s far northern Atacama desert sang, danced and sobbed.

“I have held back tears until now, but the joy is now too great,” said Cristina Nunez, whose husband Claudio Nunez is among the trapped.

“I’m so happy he will be with us by my daughter’s birthday!”

Among the families is baby Esperanza, or “Hope,” whose father Ariel Ticona is down the shaft. Ticona’s wife, Elizabeth, named the child after the makeshift camp set up by families at the mine.

“I’m so happy, I’m going to have my son back!” cried Alicia Campos, whose son, Daniel Herrera, is among the group of 33.

The men will wear special tinted glasses to avoid damaging their eyes as they finally emerge into the daylight.

Read more: Chile miners – the story so far

'He knows we're all up here and now more than ever he has to be strong'
After 65 days buried alive, plan B suddenly became plan A and the miners now have the very real prospect of imminent rescue.

The families began to hug each other and cry. A school bell rang and people started beeping their horns.

Then relatives started running with flags up the hill towards posters of the trapped miners, exclaiming "Great joy, thankyou my lord God!"

Elizabeth Segovia, the sister of miner Dario Segovia, told Channel 4 News: "The day has come, we are very happy because the machine has broken through the mountain. Every drop of sweat was worth it.

"I imagine that Dario is happy. He knows we're all up here and now more than ever he has to be strong."

Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller and his producer Sarah Corp spoke to relatives at the San Jose mine.