The trapped miners in Chile are a crucial step closer to freedom after the completion of a rescue shaft. Foreign Correspondent Jonathan Miller describes the “very real prospect of imminent release”.
Chilean rescuers trying to reach 33 miners trapped underground say they have finished drilling an escape shaft.
The breakthrough sets the stage for the group to be evacuated one by one in a survival story which has made headlines around the world. A winch will soon start work bringing each man to the surface in specially-designed narrow capsules.
Relatives and friends of the trapped miners, who have held candlelight vigils at the gold and copper mine in the far northern Atacama desert since the collapse, are waiting anxiously to see their loved ones for the first time since 5 August.
Cristina Nunez, whose husband Claudio Yanez is among those trapped, said: “He is in good spirits and keeping busy to help time pass.”
Read more: Chile miners amazing survival – the story so far
Some of the men have sent keepsakes like letters, crucifixes and clothes sent down to them in tubes back to the surface from the tunnel they called “hell”.
Engineers must now decide how much of the shaft to line with metal tubing before extracting the miners.
It is estimated it will take three to 10 days to get the men out. Rescuers initially bored narrow shafts the width of a grapefruit to locate the men.
Trapped for 65 days the men have set a world record for the length of time workers have survived underground.
When they were found 17 days after the accident, miraculously all still alive, celebrations took place across Chile. Rescuers then passed high-energy gels, water and food down the narrow ducts to keep the miners alive.
'The machine has broken through the mountain'
Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Miller and his producer Sarah Corp report from the northern Atacama desert.
After 65 days buried alive, plan B suddenly became plan A and the miners now have the very real prospect of imminent rescue.
There was a heavy fog hanging over the camp this morning with relatives sitting around anxiously, surrounded by media.
Then suddenly came a cry of "Rompieron! Rompieron!" which means "Breakthrough!"
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."
Images caught on a video camera lowered down the bore hole showed the men stripped to their waists to cope with the heat and humidity.
The group have set a world record for the length of time workers have survived underground after a mining accident. They are in generally good health, though have some have skin infections.
President Sebastian Pinera’s wife, Cecilia Morel, has travelled to Camp Hope – set up by relatives at the mine opening.
The government has brought in a team of experts from Nasa to help keep the men mentally and physically fit during the drawn-out rescue operation.