New video gives tour of trapped miners' refuge

[stevedeshazer]

Source: Associated Press

COPIAPO, Chile — The first video released of the 33 men trapped deep in a Chilean cooper mine shows the men stripped to the waist and appearing slim but healthy, arm-in-arm, singing the national anthem and yelling "long live Chile, and long live the miners!"

Only about five minutes of what is reportedly a 45-minute video was released late Thursday by Television Nacional de Chile via the Chilean government.

The men made the video with a small camera sent down to them through a small emergency shaft drilled to their emergency shelter deep in the San Jose mine.

The grainy, night-vision images show some men standing, others lying down and apparently just waking up. One man proudly displays the way they have organized the living room-sized shelter where they took refuge after a landslide trapped them Aug. 5. They also showed off areas outside the shelter where they can walk around.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5iQLLUsYE7U9j2UexjzT-KSr-ZoVA?size=s2

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i075ahoJZZkuwcSyRJcUkUDZKuFQD9HRL3S80

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Long live the miners!

[Rhiannon12866]

1. K&R. This is such a heartbreaking, yet amazing, story...

Thanks so much for posting... :kick:

[pnorman]

2. Here's a gratituous slap at the Free Market Doctrine:

"What the men may not know is that the mining company that hired them is doing nothing to join them in a rescue. The San Esteban company says it can't afford to pay their wages and may go bankrupt.

San Esteban is in such bad shape that it has neither the equipment nor the money to rescue the men; Chile's state-owned mining company is going to drill the escape tunnel, which will cost about $1.7 million."

[Kevin1a]

3. Secrecy

Thanks for posting. I'm thrilled to hear that they are doing alright down there. I wonder why they wanted to keep part of the movie secret. Governments are so obsessed with secrecy. What harm could 33 miners telling their families that they love them have?

[truthisfreedom]

4. Privacy too.

Hopefully.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Chile miners: new video shows workers singing to keep spirits up

Chile miners: new video shows workers singing to keep spirits up
Chilean authorities have released a new video of the 33 miners trapped half a mile underground showing them singing the national anthem to keep their spirits up.
By Nick Allen, Los Angeles
Published: 9:01AM BST 27 Aug 2010

The men, who appeared thin, heavily bearded and shirtless, linked arms in front of the camera and shouted: "Long live Chile. Long live the miners."

They also chanted "Chile! Chile! Chile!" and gave V for victory signs during the 25-minute film.

A round of applause was given for their rescuers, with one of the men telling the camera: "We know what you've all been doing for us. You haven't left us alone. We want to send applause to you."

The video camera was lowered down through a bore hole and one of the miners used it to record a tour of living conditions, illuminated by a light on his head.

~snip~
"We plan, we have assemblies here every day so that all the decisions we make are based on the thoughts of all 33."

Another miner looked at the camera and told his family: "Be calm. We're going to get out of here. And we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your efforts."

One of the other miners said: "Thank you to everybody. I send you a big hug in the name of our Lord."

The San Esteban mining company that hired the men is not paying for the rescue and says it may go bankrupt.

Instead, Chile's state-owned mining company is drilling an escape tunnel, which will cost about $1.7 million (£1.1 million.)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/7967192/Chile-miners-new-video-shows-workers-singing-to-keep-spirits-up.html

[Judi Lynn]

6. W.Va. gov. offers mine rescue help to Chile

W.Va. gov. offers mine rescue help to Chile
August 26, 2010 3:30 PM

CHARLESTON, W.Va.

Gov. Joe Manchin is offering the state's mine rescue expertise to the Chilean government.

Manchin's office says the governor has asked the state Officer of Miners' Health Safety and Training and the Department of Health and Human Resources to determine if the state can offer any assistance.

The governor's office is working through the U.S. State Department on the offer.

West Virginia is the second-largest coal producing state in the nation, and it imposed new mine safety and rescue requirements after 12 miners died following a 2006 explosion at the Sago Mine. Earlier this year, 29 miners died in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine.

http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/wv/news17.shtml

[Judi Lynn]

7. Chilean football star is among 33 people trapped in mine collapse

Chilean football star is among 33 people trapped in mine collapse

Former international whose playing days ended before era of big wages turned to mining after retirement
By Jerome Taylor
Thursday, 26 August 2010

http://www.independent.co.uk.nyud.net:8090/multimedia/dynamic/00439/Pg-26-chile-main-af_439527s.jpg

Hugo Lobos holds a picture of his brother Franklin, the former premier league footballer who
is trapped down the San Jose mine

On the football pitch he was known as el Mortero Magico – the magic mortar. Throughout the 1980s Franklin Lobos had a glittering career in the Chilean premiership, playing for top side Cobresal and representing his country in its attempt to make it to the 1984 Olympics
.
Fans in the dusty northern city of El Salvador, where Cobresal is based, remember a stocky midfielder with powerful free kicks and the ability to hurl the ball prodigious distances.

But today, the 53-year-old is one of the 33 men trapped in the San José gold and copper mine desperately waiting to be brought back to the surface in an audacious rescue attempt that has captivated the world.

In the next few days emergency workers hope to begin construction on a concrete platform which will soon house 28 tonnes of vital digging equipment. Engineers will bore a shaft large enough to winch the men to safety.

But conservative estimates suggest it could take up to four months to pierce through the 700 metres of rock lying between them and the trapped miners. Relatives at Camp Esperanza, the makeshift tent city that has sprung up on the arid hillsides surrounding the mine, have been told not to tell their loved ones how long they will have to wait to see daylight.

More:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/chilean-football-star-is-among-33-people-trapped-in-mine-collapse-2062206.html

[Judi Lynn]

8. Chilean fled quake area only to be trapped in mine

Chilean fled quake area only to be trapped in mine
'We will have another happy ending,' his wife says of latest ordeal
By Bradley Brooks
updated 43 minutes ago

COPIAPO, Chile — Carola Narvaez breathed in the Atacama Desert's cold dawn air and slowly began to exhale the story of how her family survived a devastating earthquake and worked to rebuild their lives — only for her husband to end up trapped deep inside a Chilean mine.

A tale of two disasters, Narvaez's account embodies the challenges still faced by the poor in Chile despite two decades as Latin America's economic darling. It is a story of incredible misfortune, unwavering faith and a love she said has only been strengthened by adversity.

http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com.nyud.net:8090/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/Raul-Bustos-Ibanez.grid-2x2.JPG

Ho / Reuters
Raul Bustos

Narvaez's husband, Raul Bustos, is a heavy-machinery mechanic whose skills have always been in demand. For years he has made a living repairing the equipment that rips copper, the lifeblood of Chile's economy, out of the earth, or helping build massive ships in ports along the nation's 4,000-mile coastline.

Six months ago Friday, the family was living in the port city of Talcahuano, 300 miles south of the capital, where Raul was working for Chilean shipbuilder Asmar.

Like most Chileans, the couple were sound asleep when one of the most powerful earthquakes registered in a century struck the central coast Feb. 27.

What the earthquake did not knock down, the tsunami it triggered washed away. While the family's home survived, ships in Asmar's yards were pushed into the street and the builder's operations destroyed.

More:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38883687/ns/world_news-americas/