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Sixty-six agonizing days after their
gold and copper mine collapsed above them, 33 miners were offered a
way out Saturday as a drill broke through to their underground
purgatory.


      Word of the drill's success prompted cheers, tears and the
ringing of bells by families in the tent camp outside the mine.
Some who have kept a vigil since the Aug. 5 disaster ran up a hill
where 33 Chilean flags were planted, chanting and shouting with joy
as a siren rang throughout "Camp Hope," confirming the
breakthrough.


      "Our nervousness is gone now," said Juan Sanchez, whose son
Jimmy is stuck in the mine. "Only now can we begin to smile."


      The "Plan B" drill won a three-way race against two other
drills to carve a hole wide enough for an escape capsule to pull
the miners out one by one.


      While "Plan A" and "Plan C" stalled after repeatedly veering
off course, the "Plan B" drill reached the miners at a point
2,041 feet (622 meters) below the surface at 8:05 a.m., after 33
days of drilling.


      "This is an important achievement," Mining Minister Laurence
Golborne said. "But we still haven't rescued anybody...


      "This rescue won't be over until the last person below leaves
this mine."


      The milestone thrilled Chileans, who have come to see the rescue
drama as a test of the nation's character and pride, and eased some
anxiety among the miners' families.


      But now comes a difficult judgment call: The rescue team must
decide whether it's more risky to pull the miners through
unreinforced rock, or to insert tons of heavy steel pipe into the
curved shaft to protect the miners on their way up.


      President Sebastian Pinera reminded Chileans Friday that he had
promised "to do everything humanly possible" to keep the miners
safe.


      Steel pipe would prevent stones from falling and potentially
jamming the capsule, but it wouldn't save a miner if the unstable
mine suffers another major collapse, and might itself provoke a
disastrous setback, Golborne said.


      "You would have to put though a 600-meter hole a lot of pipes
that weigh more than 150 tons," he warned. "And this structure
can be set in a position that also could block the movement of the
Phoenix (escape capsule). It's not an decision easy to make."


      If Saturday's close video examination persuades engineers that
the shaft is smooth, strong and uniform enough to let the capsule
pass without significant obstacles, then rescuers plan to start
pulling the men out one by one as early as Tuesday, in a
made-for-TV spectacle that has captivated the world.


      The miners will be initially examined at a field hospital where
they can briefly reunited with up to three close relatives. Then,
they'll be flown by helicopter in small groups to the regional
hospital in Copiapo, were a wing of 33 fresh beds await to care for
them for no fewer than 48 hours. Only after their physical and
mental health is thoroughly examined will they be allowed to go
home.

Gallery

Sixty-six agonizing days after their
gold and copper mine collapsed above them, 33 miners were offered a
way out Saturday as a drill broke through to their underground
purgatory.


A way out, at last, for Chile's 33 trapped miners

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