Evacuation of trapped Chile miners to start on Wednesday

The rescue of 33 miners trapped in a Chilean mine is likely to start on Wednesday, officials said after engineers completed a shaft to the emergency shelter where the men had found refuge.

A relative is hugged by a policeman after the T 130 drilling machine completed an escape hole for the 33 miners that are trapped at San Jose Reuters

On Saturday, drillers made a dramatic breakthrough in reaching the men who have been trapped underground for two months, causing celebrations across Chile.

The strongest men are expected to be evacuated first, followed by miners with chronic health problems such as high blood pressure or lung ailments, ending with other stronger men.

If the evacuation at the San Jose mine starts on Wednesday, the miners are expected to be out by Friday.

Overnight on Saturday, engineers worked on reinforcing the 622-meter shaft with steel piping. 16 tubes were to be lowered into the shaft one by one to consolidate 96 m of the top part of the newly completed shaft, said Mining Minister Laurence Golborne on Saturday.

The miners were trapped underground after a collapse at the gold and copper mine in northern Chile on August 5. For weeks they were feared dead.

But on August 22, the miners were able to send up a note though a shaft to inform the world that they had survived and were awaiting rescue.

Families waiting anxiously to be reunited with their loved ones expressed cautious optimism that the miners would get out safely. “May they take every precautionary measure they need to, because we don’t want anything to go wrong at the last moment,” said Nelly Bugueno, mother of miner Victor Zamora.