Channel 4 News has obtained the first interview with one of the Chilean miners to be screened on British television. Richard Villarroel says they were “waiting for death” while trapped underground.
In the interview – recorded the day after his rescue from the San Jose mine and shown in full for the first time above – miner Richard Villarroel told Channel 4 News that the miners had been “waiting for death” after they became trapped, 625 metres underground.
He described the moment the mine collapsed, and the miners’ attempts to escape.
“I came close to God. I did not surrender to death.” Richard Villarroel
“Everything moved, and we couldn’t see anything,” he said. “We tried to escape in a pick-up truck, but we crashed. We couldn’t drive it, there was too much dust.
“We could barely see a metre in front of us, and then we got to the refuge. There was supposed to be food for 15 days, but there wasn’t enough.”
He said the miners were afraid of what might happen to them.
“We were waiting for death,” he said. “Our bodies were consuming themselves. I was getting skinnier every day. I lost 12 kilos. I was afraid I would never see my child again.”
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Despite the lack of food in those first difficult days, before the miners had contact with people on the surface, he said that cannibalism was not discussed.
“We never talked about cannibalism during those first days, but after they found us that became a joke comment just to make us laugh. But at that moment we never thought about cannibalism.”
Trapped
The miners spent 69 days trapped underground in a small, dark, humid space.
“Every day we said to each other we had to be strong,” said Mr Villarroel. “If they found us, good, if not, so be it.”
He said that praying helped the miners through – despite never having prayed before.
“We could do nothing else but pray. I have never prayed before. I learned how to do it there. I came close to God. I did not surrender to death,” he said.
But he said the miners still had bad moments.
“I did see mates of mine who didn’t even get up that first day,” he said.
“They were very young and had been desperate to work in mines. They lay on the floor and didn’t get up – that was the most difficult time. To see them with no strength.”
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