Near the northern city of Copiapó, Chile on august 5th 2010, there was a terrible mining incident at San Jose Mine, Chile. 33 men were trapped underground for 69 days; they were 2,300 feet below the surface. For seventeen days there was no word from them, they couldn’t reach them even if they wanted to. They had little food to survive on. But when they decided to put in a small bore hole to reach the miners, the miners saw it and sent a message up saying that they were okay and alive. Soon they sent a video camera, which threaded deep underground and captured the first images of the 33 men, they all were in good health. They could send them food, and supplies. “The miners later used a modified telephone to sing Chile’s national anthem to the hundreds of teary-eyed relatives celebrating above” (New York Times). It was all over the world, On October 13 2010 the miners were safely rescued one by one.
The first Miner to be rescued after 69 days at 12:04 am was Florencio Alvaros age 31. He came out hugging his wife, two kids and his father. At 1:10 a.m. Mario Sepulveda Espina age 40 was rescued, 2:08 a.m. Juan Illanes age 52 a married former solider, 3:09 a.m. Carlos Mamani age 24 a Bolivian started working at the mine five days before the collapse, 4:10 a.m. Jimmy Sanchez age 19, the youngest miner and father of a months-old baby, 5:34 a.m. Osman Isidro Araya age 30 father of three, 6:21 a.m. Jose Ojeda age 47 a widow, but his nephew were there when he got rescued, 7:02 a.m. Claudio Yanez age 34, 7:59 a.m. Mario Gomez age 63 he’s the oldest of the miners, 8:52 a.m. Alex Vega age 31 married and has two children, 9:31 a.m. Jorge Galeguillos age 55, 10:11 a.m. Edison Pena age 34 and married, he was the most depressed being trapped, 10:54 a.m. Carlos Barrios age 27 Has a five year old son, 11:30 a.m. Victor Zamora age 34, has worked in the mine for five years, 12:07 p.m. Victor Segovia age 48, kept a diary of his life underground, 12:49 pm. Daniel Herrera age 37 His mother and sister were waiting for him to be rescued, 1:39 p.m. Omar Reygadas, age 56 has spent three decades working in the mine and this was his third time being trapped underground, 2:49 p.m. Esteban Rojas age 44 vowed to marry his girlfriend after he got rescued, 3:27 p.m. Pablo Rojas age 45 worked in the mine for six months, 3:59 p.m. Dario Segovia age 48, had been working in the mine for 3 months, 4:31 p.m. Johnny Barrios Rojas age 50, worked for 25 years at the mine and served as the medic for the group, 5:04 p.m. Samuel Avalos age 43 started working in the mine for more money, 5:32 p.m. Carlos Bugueno age 26 was trapped in there with one of his childhood friends, 5:59 p.m. Jose Henriquez age 55 prayed all day so that they would all be fine, 6:24 p.m. Renan Avalos age 29, is the brother of the first man who got rescued, He had worked at the mine for five months, 6:51 p.m. Claudio Acuna age 44, proposed to his girlfriend Fabiola Araya from below ground, 7:18 p.m. Franklin Lobos age 53 former professional soccer player, 7:44 p.m. Richard Villaroel age 23, 8:13 p.m. Juan Carlos Aguilar age 46, has worked as a miner since he was 19, 8:37 p.m. Raul Bustos age 40, 9:01 p.m. Pedro Cortez age 25 helped install the communications system, 9:28 p.m. Ariel Ticona age 28 also helped Cortez install the communication system, 9:55 p.m. Luis Alberto Urzua age 54 was the last men rescued.
Although they were underground for 69 days they were well, soon enough they got the news that they would be rescued! Although it was a tricky incident, the results were the first one could maybe the only one to get out or might not get out at all. They took the chances anyway, and they all came out safely and returned to their family members! This story impacted many Chileans, it was all over news. On November 2015 they made a movie about The San Jose Mine, It’s called “The 33” it showed the struggle they had in the 69 days they were trapped, its shows what was going on at that time, August 5 2015-October 13 2015 would be a day the Chileans would never forget.
CBSNEWS. “Chile Miners: Order of Men Rescued.” CBSNEWS. N.p., 13 Oct. 2010. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
“Chile Mining Accident (2010).” <i>- The New York Times</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
“First Pair of 33 Men Rescued from Chilean Mine.” <i>Post and Courier</i>. N.p., 13 Oct. 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2015