World watches as Chilean miners are rescued
October 26, 2025 10:53 AM
Chile’s trapped miners are finally free from a collapsed mine in which they spent 69 days underground.
The 33 men were hoisted to the surface through a narrow escape shaft in a missile-like steel capsule barely wider than the men’s shoulders.
The rescue took each man 15 minutes to be pulled up through over 2, 000 feet of rock to the surface.
Each miner emerged to a hero’s reception above the San Jose gold and copper mine in Chile’s northern Atacama Desert.
The miner’s rescue had transfixed the globe, in what had been the longest underground entrapment in human history. It has also provided the country a cause for national celebration.
Sighs of relief were felt around the world as millions watched the rescue operation. Many were glued to the live broadcast. The 33rd miner was finally hoisted to the surface 22 hours after the rescue operation began.
The men had been trapped underground since Aug 5 when a rockfall caused a tunnel to collapse. They were feared dead for the first two weeks before Chilean authorities discovered that the men had actually survived the mine collapse.
Florencio Avalos, 31, was the first miner to be rescued. He was second-in-command of the crew of miners and was chosen to be the first man out because he was in the best condition.
Avalos was credited with helping the trapped miners endure the 17 days in isolation before the men were discovered.
Franklin Lobos, 53, emerged from the mine with great applause. He was the only rescued man whose name was widely known in Chile before the disaster. Lobos played for the Chilean national soccer team that qualified for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Chilean president, Sebastian Pinera, has begun a worldwide tour, presenting world leaders with chunks of rock from the mine where the workers were rescued.
International fervor has fallen upon the country, with rumours of novels and movie deals already in the works. The miners have together hired an accountant to collect earnings stemming from media appearances, and have agreed to split the money equally amongst all of the men involved.
This story hits close to home for the people of Nova Scotia. The mining industry in this province has experienced several disastrous mine collapses.
On Oct 23, 1958, Springhill, Nova Scotia, witnessed one of the most severe underground earthquakes in North American mining history.
The collapse devastated the people of Springhill for the casualties they suffered. A total of 74 miners lost their lives in the disaster.