The Incredible Story of Chilean Miners Rescued from the 'Deep Down Dark'

The disaster began on a workday around lunchtime at a mine in Chile's Atacama Desert: Miners working deep
inside a mountain, excavating for copper, gold and other minerals, started feeling vibrations. Suddenly, there
was a massive explosion and the passageways of the mine filled up with a cloud of dust. When the dust settled,
the men discovered the source of the explosion: "A block of stone as tall as a building, had broken off from the
rest of the mountain and had fallen through the layers of the mine ... causing a chain reaction as the mountain
above it began collapsing too."

Thirty-three miners were sealed inside the mountain by this "mega block" of stone, some 770,000 tons of it,
"twice the weight of the Empire State building." Staring at that flat wall, Luis Urzua, the crew's supervisor,
thought: "It was like the stone they put over Jesus's tomb."

If the beginning of this horror tale seems the stuff of legend or nightmare, the conclusion is very familiar,
because some 1 billion of people around the world watched it on live TV.

On Oct. 13, 2010, all 33 of those Chilean miners trapped for 69 days inside the San Jose Mine were raised to the
surface of the earth — resurrected — through a newly drilled escape tunnel into which a capsule was slowly
lowered and raised by a giant crane. It was a feat of engineering and a triumph of faith. Neither the miners
buried under half a mile of rock nor their families above ground in a makeshift tent city called Campo
Esperanza — "Camp Hope" — ever completely succumbed to despair, despite the fact that for 17 days, before a
drill finally broke through to "The Refuge," the room where the men were gathered, no one knew whether they
were alive.

On the first day of their entombment, supervisor Urzua took off his distinctive white helmet and announced to
his workers, "We are all equal now. ... There are no bosses and employees."

Some of the miners regarded Urzua's act as an abdication of responsibility; others saw it as a crucial factor that
inspired their collective behavior and survival. The men organized themselves into work shifts, participated in
daily prayer sessions, and rationed their emergency food supply into one meal a day of two cookies and a
spoonful of tuna fish, augmented by water drained from industrial waste containers. Above ground, the mostly
female crowd of the miners' families acted collectively too: banging pots and pans to get attention and shouting,
"We want information," in police officers' faces.

A copy of the note sent from miners trapped in the San Jose mine. It reads: "We are well in the refuge. The 33."

Vocabulary
Deep inside en lo profundo despite A pesar
Copper cobre drill taladro
Passageways conductos, tuneles. broke through irrumpio
Fill up llenarse gathered reunidos
Dust polvo
settled Asentó no one nadie
newly drilled Recien perforada whether Si,
 source fuente took off Se quitó
as tall as Tan alto como helmet casco
had broken off Habia roto regarded Consideraron, calificaron
had fallen Habia caido abdication of responsibility Evasion de responsabilidad
through atraves work shifts Cuadrillas de trabajo
layers capas prayer oraciones
chain reaction Reacción en cadena food supply suministro de alimento,
mercado
sealed Sellados, tapado spoonful cucharada
Staring observando tuna fish Atun de pescado
stuff cosa rationed racionada
raised elevó augmented rendido
surface superficie drained drenada
escape tunnel Tunel de escape industrial waste containers Contenedores de residuos
industriales
lowered bajado Above ground En la superficie
crane grua crowd multitud
feat hazaña banging golpeanado
Neither ni pots Tarros, ollas
buried under Enterrado debajo pans sartenes
nor ni shouting gritando
makeshift tent city Pueblo improvisado get conseguir
ever completely Nunca sucumbieron por
succumbed to despair complete a la desesperacion

Preguntas relacionadas

 How did the Chilean miners survive?

 How many Chilean miners died?

 How long were the 33 Chilean miners trapped for?

 What did the Chilean miners eat and drink?

 What do you think on Urzua's reaction?