Trapped Chilean miners could be rescued soon

Rapid progress in rescue efforts could result in the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground since Aug. 5 seeing daylight as early as this weekend, government officials said Tuesday.

Three drilling operations are underway to reach the miners trapped 2,300 feet underground in the San Jose mine in northern Chile’s Atacama desert. One of them, the so-called T-130 or Plan B hole, is advancing more than 100 feet a day and could reach the miners in a few days.

President Sebastian Pinera said Monday that he expected to greet the miners before he leaves Oct. 15 for a weeklong European trip.

A rescue this weekend would mean those in charge of the operation would forgo the insertion of a steel casing to reinforce the sides of the 28-inch-diameter hole after drilling is completed. The government has been debating whether to insert a casing for the entire depth of the hole, part of it or none at all.

Placing the metal tubes for the entire length, which measures nearly the same as two Empire State Buildings placed end to end, could take an additional week.

The miners are to be raised in a steel capsule that weighs nearly half a ton and will be tied to an enormous winch. The capsule will be wired for sound and contain oxygen. Officials said it would take more than half an hour to bring up each man.

Each miner is to spend at least two days in a hospital in nearby Copiapo for tests. Some of the men have lost as much as 20 pounds, and may be suffering from vitamin D deficiency for lack of sunlight. But they have been exercising and are generally thought to be in good health, government medical advisors at the mine say.

After the mine collapsed, the men were feared dead until drillers reached them Aug. 22. When the three drilling operations began in early September, the government said the miners would be rescued in mid- to late November. However, the drilling has gone faster than anticipated, with relatively few setbacks.

The government has promised jobs for the trapped miners and nearly 300 other workers at the now-defunct San Jose mine. But on Monday several miners demonstrated in Copiapo, saying they hadn’t been paid all of their wages and benefits, the Associated Press reported.

Kraul is a special correspondent.