Chilean miners told no rescue before Christmas

Chilean officials Wednesday broke the news to a group of trapped miners that they could be stuck underground for months before being rescued. 

Families of the miners trapped in Chile Reuters

"We were able to tell them ... they would not be rescued before the Fiestas Patrias [Chile's 18 September Independence Day celebrations], and that we hoped to get them out before Christmas," Health Minister Jaime Manalich said.

He said the 33 men, trapped 700 metres below ground, took the information calmly, but he warned "a period of depression, anguish and severe malaise" could ensue.

Officials had been hiding the bleak information from the miners since they were discovered alive on Sunday in a shelter in the San Jose gold and copper mine more than two weeks after a 5 August collapse.

They feared the psychological impact when the men contemplated the long ordeal ahead of them in a hot, dank shelter with their only lifeline a tiny hole to the surface providing sustenance, water and communication.

Family members at the surface posted messages through an eight-centimetre wide drilled hole to lift the men's spirits.

US space agency Nasa has been enlisted to advise on how to support the men through their ordeal, based on its experience in keeping astronauts going during long, isolated missions.