Chile mine rescue leader: Obama 'not correct'

[Judi Lynn]

Chile mine rescue leader: Obama 'not correct'
Updated: January 27, 2011, 5:09 PM


SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The leader of Chile's remarkable mine rescue says President Barack Obama exaggerated the role of an American drilling engineer.

Obama said during his State of the Union speech Tuesday that when Brandon Fisher saw the news that 33 men were trapped in a Chilean mine last year, "no one knew how to save them," and that Fisher "designed a rescue that would come to be known as Plan B."

The Plan B drill, using Fisher's unique piston-driven hammers, did provide the miners with a way out. But Chilean engineer Andre Sougarret, who began planning the rescue three days into the 69-day ordeal, says it's "not correct" to suggest that Fisher and other Americans "were the only participants in the success."

Sougarret noted in an interview with Chile's El Mercurio newspaper that Fisher's drilling company, Center Rock Inc. of Berlin, Pa., got paid $100,000 for its equipment, and was one of many companies involved.

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