Trapped Chilean miners not being told it may be Christmas before they can be rescued
Tribute: Elias Sepulveda (right) embraces her cousin Katherine next to candles, flags and messages for their relatives Esteban and Pablo Rojas, two of the 33 miners trapped at the collapsed San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile. The miners have not been told it could take months to rescue them
Kept in the dark: Chilean miners found after 18 days still haven't been told they could be trapped until Christmas... in case it sends them mad 24th August 2010
- Officials worried about psychological effects of cabin fever
- Men are in a mine shaft shelter the size of a small apartment
Miner sends note to wife saying 'we'll come out OK'
A team of 33 miners trapped underground have not been told it could be Christmas before they are rescued.
The men have been found alive after 17 days without contact but will have to wait months until a big enough shaft can be dug to pull them out.
Experts fear the group could become insane before then because they are holed up in an area no larger than a one-bedroom flat.
They have not been told it could be months before they are rescued, chief engineer Andres Sougarret admitted.
This TV grab shows part of the head of Florencio Antonio Avalos Silva, one of the 33 trapped miners. Chilean National TV (TVN) yesterday passed a camera 2,300ft down through the borehole to get images of the trapped men who have been there for 17 days
'The umbilical cord is ready,' he said. 'Now comes the engineering design, the topography, and then begins the work of drilling.'
A telephone line has been set up so
the miners can talk to rescuers and relatives, although anxious
officials are concerned an emotional family member could blurt out how long the rescue mission will take.
The men had travelled 4.5 miles into the winding shafts of the San Jose copper and gold mine in Chile when they were trapped by a cave-in on August 5.
Rescuers tried and failed to reach them, but worked out they were 2,300ft below ground in an emergency refuge.
Seven narrow boreholes were drilled vertically down from the surface in an attempt to break through to them, all to no avail.
Finally, after weeks of mistakes and new cave-ins - and when families and friends had almost given them up for dead - the eighth attempt succeeded on Sunday.
Read more: HERE
Comments