ianstone
10-11-2010, 02:10 PM
Rescuer workers will start to evacuate 33 trapped miners at midnight local time on Tuesday and have successfully sent the first test capsule down the rescue shaft.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Oct/Week2/15755961.jpg
The rescue workers are said to be more anxious than the miners
:: Pictures: Sky's Robert Nisbet goes behind the scenes (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Chile-Miners-Rescue-Operation-Pictures-From-Scene-By-Sky-News-Robert-Nisbet/Media-Gallery/201010215756122?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Page_St rap_Teaser_Region_0&lid=GALLERY_15756122_Chile_Miners_Rescue_Operation %3A_Pictures_From_Scene_By_Sky_News_Robert_Nisbet)
Chile's mining minister Laurence Golborne also revealed in a press conference that the miners - trapped underground since August 5 - are calmer than the rescuers at this stage.
The engineer leading the rescue effort confirmed that his team has successfully sent an escape capsule nearly all the way to where the miners are trapped in a test run.
Andres Sougarett said the empty capsule descended 2,000ft - but stopped just 46ft short of the chamber where the miners have been living.
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Sky News' Andrew Wilson, at the San Jose mine in Chile, explained: "They didn't want one of the miners to jump into the capsule and make his way up before they were ready to receive him."
He also confirmed everything is in place for the evacuation to begin at midnight (0400 GMT) on Tuesday.
Sky News' Andrew Wilson, at the San Jose mine in Chile, said the miners will first decide in what order they are to be brought to the surface.
A tentative list has apparently been drawn up already to decide who should come up first.
The first four trips in the escape capsule will then be made by rescue workers heading down.
The team of four - two mining rescue experts and two nurses or paramedics - will assess the journey before bringing any of the miners up.
View [URL="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=101065261274254213289.0004907a3e968ae9dbf9a&ll=-31.128199,-63.720703&spn=26.184387,35.15625&t=h&z=4&source=embed"]Miners Trapped In Chile (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Interactive-Graphics/chileminers) in a larger map
Then, one by one, the 33 miners will make the 20-minute journey to the surface some 2,041ft above.
According to engineers, the capsule is likely to spin 350 degrees up to 12 times during the trip through the 28-inch wide escape hole.
Chile's government has promised the men at least six months of psychological support.
They have been helped by a team of psychologists while underground but that has been to help them endure the extreme conditions.
Last week, they also reportedly received an hour a day of training to deal with the media onslaught that will undoubtedly confront them when they emerge.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2010/Oct/Week2/15755961.jpg
The rescue workers are said to be more anxious than the miners
:: Pictures: Sky's Robert Nisbet goes behind the scenes (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Chile-Miners-Rescue-Operation-Pictures-From-Scene-By-Sky-News-Robert-Nisbet/Media-Gallery/201010215756122?lpos=World_News_First_Home_Page_St rap_Teaser_Region_0&lid=GALLERY_15756122_Chile_Miners_Rescue_Operation %3A_Pictures_From_Scene_By_Sky_News_Robert_Nisbet)
Chile's mining minister Laurence Golborne also revealed in a press conference that the miners - trapped underground since August 5 - are calmer than the rescuers at this stage.
The engineer leading the rescue effort confirmed that his team has successfully sent an escape capsule nearly all the way to where the miners are trapped in a test run.
Andres Sougarett said the empty capsule descended 2,000ft - but stopped just 46ft short of the chamber where the miners have been living.
[/URL]
Sky News' Andrew Wilson, at the San Jose mine in Chile, explained: "They didn't want one of the miners to jump into the capsule and make his way up before they were ready to receive him."
He also confirmed everything is in place for the evacuation to begin at midnight (0400 GMT) on Tuesday.
Sky News' Andrew Wilson, at the San Jose mine in Chile, said the miners will first decide in what order they are to be brought to the surface.
A tentative list has apparently been drawn up already to decide who should come up first.
The first four trips in the escape capsule will then be made by rescue workers heading down.
The team of four - two mining rescue experts and two nurses or paramedics - will assess the journey before bringing any of the miners up.
View [URL="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=101065261274254213289.0004907a3e968ae9dbf9a&ll=-31.128199,-63.720703&spn=26.184387,35.15625&t=h&z=4&source=embed"]Miners Trapped In Chile (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Interactive-Graphics/chileminers) in a larger map
Then, one by one, the 33 miners will make the 20-minute journey to the surface some 2,041ft above.
According to engineers, the capsule is likely to spin 350 degrees up to 12 times during the trip through the 28-inch wide escape hole.
Chile's government has promised the men at least six months of psychological support.
They have been helped by a team of psychologists while underground but that has been to help them endure the extreme conditions.
Last week, they also reportedly received an hour a day of training to deal with the media onslaught that will undoubtedly confront them when they emerge.