colchagua-cachapoal-y-cardenal-caro: "Los mineros en general están bien para la situación que han debido enfrentar"

sábado 28 de agosto de 2010

Reacciones tras el video que mostró a los 33 atrapados:

El psicólogo Alberto Iturra, que coordina este aspecto del rescate, analizó las imágenes y es optimista respecto del estado de salud mental de estos hombres. Los cinco que no aparecieron en el primer video, ayer grabaron uno especialmente para sus familiares.

Gabriela Bade y Alexis Ibarra
Los cinco mineros que no participaron del video que mostró las difíciles condiciones de vida de los 33 hombres atrapados 700 metros bajo tierra, ayer sí se pusieron frente a la cámara. Y así dejaron a sus familiares más tranquilos respecto de su real estado anímico.

El psicólogo Claudio Ibáñez, que estuvo ayer durante todo el día trabajando junto el psicólogo que coordina la misión de rescate, Alberto Iturra, comentó que hicieron contacto con los cinco ausentes y que estaban perfectamente bien de ánimo. "Si no aparecieron fue por diversas razones, casualidades, pero están muy bien", asegura Ibáñez.

La visión del ministro de Salud, Jaime Mañalich, fue menos optimista. A mediodía su impresión sobre el estado de los cinco mineros ausentes del video era que estaban en "riesgo anímico". Y agregó luego: "yo diría que depresión es la palabra correcta".

"Lo más probable es que nos enfrentemos a un período de depresión, de angustia y decaimiento", agregó después sobre una situación futura. Y, ante esa posibilidad, dijo que están "preparando fármacos para ellos porque sería ingenuo pensar que van a ser capaces de mantener este tremendo ánimo durante tan largo período de tiempo".

La opinión del ministro Mañalich fue menos radical al final del día, cuando junto al equipo encargado de la contención psicológica informó a los familiares que los mineros estaban muy bien.

Iturra, quien entregó el informe, dijo que "considerando la gravedad de la situación, el tiempo que ha transcurrido, lo inhóspito que todavía es el lugar, yo encuentro que su estado anímico es excelente", dijo.

"Tras el video y los contactos que hemos tenido, sé que es gente positiva, con buen sentido del humor, haciendo funcionar toda su creatividad, incluso hicieron un dominó de la nada", agrega Iturra.

Tanto él como Ibáñez coinciden en que los mineros están trabajando. "Su trabajo es mantenerse bien de salud y de ánimo", dice Ibáñez. "El video prueba que están completamente organizados y además muestra que cada uno tiene sus talentos. Como el camarógrafo y el conductor del video, que desarrollaron un guión completo y continuo", agrega Iturra.

A las expresiones de desánimo, como la frase de uno de ellos que pide que los saquen luego de ahí, los psicólogos las consideran normales. "Uno no puede esperar cosas mágicas, que ellos estén bien al ciento por ciento. Claramente, hay un desgaste por el agotamiento y están flacos porque no comieron; algunos se veían agotados porque estaban de turno", sigue Iturra.

Entre las situaciones que los mineros reconocieron que les molestaban, hablaron del largo tiempo que se tomaba el horario de comidas. El proceso de envío a través de las palomas se demora unas dos horas en total para que los 33 tengan sus raciones. "Pero no se puede hacer más rápido, van a tener que ser pacientes", explica Ibáñez.

También Condorito

La misión del equipo encargado de la contención psicológica y emocional de los mineros será elaborar un plan para los próximos días.

Uno de los aspectos a cubrir será la entretención. Ayer, el ministro Mañalich les envió algunas revistas Condorito. Y hoy, Iturra recibirá un envío especial: un juego de cacho con 33 vasos con el nombre de cada minero escrito, que donó el empresario Eduardo Van de Wyngard. Él además les enviará, a través de "El Mercurio", cuatro juegos de dominó de verdad y no de papel, como el que tienen hoy, y cuatro mazos de cartas (ver nota relacionada).

Antes, los mineros recibirían anoche un video de sus familiares de 66 minutos. Es decir, cada familia tuvo dos minutos para comunicarse en este formato. Y hasta última hora se decidía si todos los mineros verían todos los saludos, o cada uno vería el suyo de manera privada.

Es un grupo sano en situación difícil. No pretendamos ponerle títulos de enfermedad o patologías. Este es un tema social, emocional, que habla de la tremenda capacidad de los seres humanos para enfrentar positivamente situaciones adversas".

Alberto Iturra
Psicólogo a cargo de la operación de rescate.

La idea es hacer un plan de intervenciones no desde la perspectiva psicoterapéutica, porque sólo tienen un bajón temporal, no necesariamente depresión. El tema es mantenerles la moral muy en alto".

Claudio Ibáñez
Psicólogo asesor en la operación de rescate.

Juegos y tecnologías van en camino
Eduardo van de Wyngard es la cuarta generación frente al negocio de las mesas de pool y juegos de salón. Al igual que todos los chilenos, el domingo pasado se emocionó al enterarse de que los 33 mineros estaban vivos y, a pesar de que su empresa acaba de quebrar y está buscando un socio capitalista, se puso inmediatamente a pensar cómo entretener a los mineros con sus productos. "Desde hace unos 15 años que grandes empresas, como mineras o hidroeléctricas, están invirtiendo en salas de juego, y además de las mesas de billar, el dominó y el cacho son los más requeridos", dice Van de Wyngard.

Por eso hizo 33 vasos de cacho a medida (diámetro menor a 7 cm) para que quepan en la "paloma". Además, se preocupó de rotular los vasos con el nombre de cada uno de los mineros.

Promete que pronto ideará una mesa de billar que pueda animar a los mineros. "Estoy planeando cómo fabricar un paño que se pueda enrollar, y una orilla de mesa y buchacas desmontables".

Las tecnologías de montaña también pueden aportar. Junto con el envío de los juegos, la empresa Doite puso a disposición muestras de colchonetas para que el equipo encargado del rescate evalúe si pueden mejorar las condiciones en que duermen los mineros. Los colchones aislantes tienen una cubierta especial de nanopartículas de plata que evita la humedad, hongos y malos olores. Poleras antibacterianas y toallas de rápida absorción también van para ser visadas.
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A principios de la próxima semana:
Vienen cuatro expertos de la NASA

Dos médicos, un psicólogo y un ingeniero apoyarán al equipo chileno que está vigilando y cuidando la salud de los 33 mineros atrapados.

Lorena Guzmán H.
Después de las videoconferencias que tuvieron el jueves pasado la NASA y el equipo de especialistas que está atendiendo a los 33 mineros atrapados, la agencia espacial de EE.UU. decidió enviar a cuatro de sus expertos a Chile. A principios de la próxima semana llegarán dos médicos, un psicólogo y un ingeniero.

El equipo será liderado por Michael Duncan, jefe de la oficina médica del área de Ciencias del Espacio del Centro Espacial Johnson en Houston.

En una entrevista divulgada por NASA TV, Duncan recalcó lo bien organizada que está la ayuda local, "y los mismos mineros se han organizado extraordinariamente bien bajo tierra".

El especialista aseguró que el gobierno chileno no ha pedido ayuda material, sino asesoría técnica para manejar la salud, la nutrición y la estabilidad psicológica de los mineros.

"La NASA tiene una larga experiencia lidiando con espacios aislados, actualmente con la Estación Espacial Internacional, y estamos preparados para entrenar a la gente y para aplicar planes de emergencia", explicó.

Aunque nunca han trabajado bajo tierra, la entidad ha realizado investigaciones y experimentos en ambientes extremos análogos a la situación en que están los mineros en la mina San José. Experimentos desarrollados bajo el mar o en la Antártica les han mostrado que las respuestas fisiológicas y psicológicas son similares bajo emergencias. Esos ambientes son análogos a la condición de aislamiento, calor extremo y restricción de alimentos que se vive bajo la mina.

Esa misma experiencia fue transmitida en la videoconferencia. Con ella se pudo establecer el nivel extremo de deshidratación y desnutrición en que se encuentran los mineros.

"Esta ayuda también es una oportunidad para nosotros. En terreno tendremos la posibilidad de aplicar aquí en la Tierra todo lo que hemos aprendido en el espacio", puntualizó Duncan.

El científico también destacó la capacidad de lucha de los mineros, "los que han demostrado a todo el mundo de cómo sobrevivir y llegar tan lejos en esta situación extrema".

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Interview about NASA assistance to trapped miners in Chile

http://emoltv.emol.com/actualidad/indexSub.asp

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So how will the Chilean miners survive for three months half a mile underground?
By Michael Hanlon
Last updated at 9:21 AM on 25th August 2010
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1305350/Chilean-miners-alive-trapped-rescue-months.html

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1305894/So-Chilean-miners-survive-months-half-mile-underground.html#ixzz0xuZMLP3o

Most recent stories related to this article:
Chilean miners to be sent down antidepressants as they're FINALLY told they could be stuck until Christmas Too fat for freedom? Fears Chilean miners might not be able to escape through 28in hole So how will the Chilean miners survive for three months half a mile underground?
By Michael Hanlon

Last updated at 9:21 AM on 25th August 2010
Comments (8) Add to My Stories Today, they're singing and drinking beer. But the miners trapped half a mile underground until Christmas face a truly harrowing ordeal.

After the sheer, blessed relief of discovering that their menfolk are alive, the people of the Chilean copper town of Copiapo now have to come to terms with almost unimaginable frustration, as engineers begin the painfully slow dig through half a mile of solid rock to get them out.
But their agony will be as nothing compared with the grim ordeal in store for the 33 miners themselves who, since they made contact with the outside world on Sunday, face an extraordinary four months trapped in an emergency shelter the size of a small flat.
Trapped: The 33 Chilean miners trapped half a mile underground face a real struggle for survival
Imagine being stuck in a hot, cramped and filthy room with 32 other people, covered in sweat, oil and dust with nowhere to wash, nowhere to go to the toilet, no doctor or dentist on hand, permanently hungry, thirsty and surviving on cruelly meagre rations, with the constant threat of death or injury and knowing that you may be there until Christmas.

More...Chileans turn to NASA for help in keeping 33 miners healthy during rescue attempt which is expected to last for months

It is easy to assume the miners will succumb quickly to depression, despair and probably near-murderous tension.
Doctors and psychologists above ground are already debating how to keep them sane during the estimated four months it will take to dig a tunnel wide enough to get them out.
Even U.S. space agency Nasa has been asked to give advice, as it has vital expertise in helping astronauts cope with long periods in confined conditions.
In fact, these men have quite a lot going for them, say psychologists. At least for now.

First, and obviously, they are miners and hence used to spending long periods underground in cramped confinement.
They are well-trained, fit and resourceful men used to dealing with extreme conditions and physical hardship.
The copper and gold miners of the Atacama Desert are a tough breed.

This is is a beautiful, bleak land where the ochre desert soils are stained vivid blues and greens by the minerals they contain.

Copper and other precious metals provide a good living for these people and the remote towns are steeped in mining.
Apart from a stomach problem reported by one of the miners, the men are physically well and sustained no injuries when the access tunnel collapsed.
According to Dr Jennifer Wild, a clinical psychologist at King's College in London, there is a direct link between hope and the chance of survival in such circumstances.

Celebration: Happy relatives continue to cheer the news that the 33 miners were found alive after they were trapped underground on August 5

Round the clock: The camp where relatives of the trapped miners wait for news is seen outside the San Jose collapsed mine in Copiapo, Chile
'The more confidently rescue workers can convey information that they will be successfully rescued, the better this will be for the miners,' she says.
Certainly spirits at the San Jose Mine seem high. On Monday a walkie-talkie and camera system was lowered through the hole about six inches across dug to the miners' cavern.

At the same time rehydration tablets and glucose were also lowered down, along with medical questionnaires, and a further access shaft is being dug.

The miners spoke by radio to rescue workers yesterday requesting cold beer, peaches and toothbrushes.

Mining minister Laurence Golborne spoke with Luis Urzua, 54, who said: 'Shift foreman here. We are all healthy and hungry, waiting for you to rescue us.'

Recovery mission: A special drill, the Xtrata 950, will dig a 66 centimeters diameter escape hole for the miners
The miners then broke out into a spontaneous version of the Chilean national anthem when the minister told them: 'The whole country is praying for you.' The singing brought tears of joy to relatives.
The men also shouted, 'Viva Chile!' when they were told their families were waiting for them in a camp up above.

Relatives will be able to send letters in capsules through the borehole.
Lilianett Ramirez, whose 63-year-old husband Mario Gomez is trapped, said: 'After 30 years of marriage we will start sending each other love letters again.'

The Chilean nation has come together over this near-tragedy, and the knowledge that the entire country is behind them will in itself help the men maintain their good spirits.

A team of psychiatrists will speak to the miners by phone to try to keep them mentally healthy.

But as time drags on, and the initial euphoria of their discovery fades, the grim reality of being stuck underground will inevitably sink in.

Then, the miners will have to draw upon their mental reserves more than their physical strength. The most important thing, according to Dr Wild, is to develop a routine.

The miners will need to organise themselves and keep busy, digging latrines in the dirt if they can, and organising rotas for cleaning, sorting out the rations and so on.

Over time, it is inevitable that some sort of command structure will emerge underground.

This may simply reflect the structure that existed before the accident; indeed it appears that 54-year-old Mr Urzua has already assumed leadership of the trapped men.
But it is possible that new, natural leaders may emerge, men who have the inner resilience to take charge if morale starts to crumble.

It is perhaps inevitable that tensions will arise. But these are not strangers thrown together by chance; they are professional workers who know each other, trapped only by bad luck and circumstance.
'It is quite possible that the experience will bring them closer together and this will minimise potential tensions,' says Dr Wild.

It is important that communications are maintained, but caution is also needed. Experts say some censorship may be necessary — keeping news of family deaths or illness from the miners.

Indeed, they have not been told just how long the rescue will take, only the positive news that it is on its way.

Celebration: Chilean President Sebastian Pinera holds a note from the 33 miners trapped in the copper and gold mine. It reads 'All 33 of us are fine in the shelter'
Relief: Relatives of trapped miners react after learning that the miers are alive
Conditions in the cavern — essentially a small fissure in the rock — are difficult but, hopefully, not fatally so. Fortuitously, fresh water supplies were replenished just before the spiral tunnel which serves the mine caved in 19 days ago.
Even so, this will run out and dehydration is probably the biggest physical hazard the miners face. Depending on the humidity levels, the 36-degree heat means they will need to consume anything up to a gallon of fresh water a day.

If they are down there until Christmas, thousands of gallons of water will somehow need to be piped down.

There is some food, but only enough for a couple of days or so, and supplies will have to be replenished through the access shaft that has been dug.

Dr Sergio Aguila, part of the rescue team, said the men have been surviving on two spoonfuls of tuna, half a cup of milk and half a biscuit every 48 hours.

It is thought they were coming to the end of their rations when contact was made.

Over time, these men will suffer muscle wastage and this will in itself lower their spirits. Unless they can find some way to exercise in the limited space available, they will, according to sports scientist Alan Richardson of Brighton University, 'find coming out to be like coming off a space flight'.

Fortunately, a supply of mine batteries means the men will not have to sit out the weeks in darkness — something which would probably be enough to push many people over the edge into madness.

They would be well advised to turn the lights which serve the mine on and off to mimic the day-night cycle.

Sanitation will be a big problem. The amount of human waste generated by 33 people over possibly 130 days does not bear thinking about, and is bound to create a risk of disease.
Thanks to the 120-year-old mine's sprawling network of entrances and shafts, there is excellent ventilation; the miners will at least not run out of air.

And because this is not a coal mine, there is no danger from the explosive gases associated with fossil fuel deposits.

At this stage, no one can say exactly how long the rescue operation will take. There are several possible ways down to the shelter cavern, and rescuers will spend days planning a route taking account of paths and shafts in the rock.
The best-case scenario, say experts, is two months; the very worst, if there is deemed to be a risk of further collapse, could see the miners trapped until next summer.

The temptation will be to drill down as fast as possible and use explosive charges to blast through the rock, but this could cause the walls of the shelter to collapse.

Yesterday it was reported that an enormous machine with diamond-tipped drills capable of carving a 26-inch-wide tunnel through solid rock and boring at about 65 feet a day was on its way from central Chile to the mine.

Just setting it up will take at least three days.

The Chilean miners have already been trapped underground longer than almost anyone in history. Last year, three miners survived 25 days trapped in a flooded mine in southern China, and two miners in north-eastern China were rescued after 23 days in 1983. Few other rescues have taken more than two weeks.
If the miners do indeed have to spend four months underground, they will set a grim new record for pushing human endurance to the absolute limit.
For most people this would be the ultimate nightmare; even for these hardy miners it will be a test almost beyond endurance.

Let us hope for them — and for the people of Copiapo — that this year Christmas really does come early.

Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1305894/So-Chilean-miners-survive-months-half-mile-underground.html#ixzz0xtuPwPc6

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1306019/Chile-miners-ask-president-speed-rescue.html
---

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1305894/

So-Chilean-miners-survive-months-half-mile-underground.htmlMost recent stories related to this article: Chilean miners to be sent down antidepressants as they're FINALLY told they could be stuck until Christmas Too fat for freedom? Fears Chilean miners might not be able to escape through 28in hole So how will the Chilean miners survive for three months half a mile underground?
By Michael Hanlon
Last updated at 9:21 AM on 25th August 2010

Comments (8) Add to My Stories Today, they're singing and drinking beer. But the miners trapped half a mile underground until Christmas face a truly harrowing ordeal.

After the sheer, blessed relief of discovering that their menfolk are alive, the people of the Chilean copper town of Copiapo now have to come to terms with almost unimaginable frustration, as engineers begin the painfully slow dig through half a mile of solid rock to get them out.
But their agony will be as nothing compared with the grim ordeal in store for the 33 miners themselves who, since they made contact with the outside world on Sunday, face an extraordinary four months trapped in an emergency shelter the size of a small flat.
Trapped: The 33 Chilean miners trapped half a mile underground face a real struggle for survival
Imagine being stuck in a hot, cramped and filthy room with 32 other people, covered in sweat, oil and dust with nowhere to wash, nowhere to go to the toilet, no doctor or dentist on hand, permanently hungry, thirsty and surviving on cruelly meagre rations, with the constant threat of death or injury and knowing that you may be there until Christmas.

More...Chileans turn to NASA for help in keeping 33 miners healthy during rescue attempt which is expected to last for months

It is easy to assume the miners will succumb quickly to depression, despair and probably near-murderous tension.
Doctors and psychologists above ground are already debating how to keep them sane during the estimated four months it will take to dig a tunnel wide enough to get them out.
Even U.S. space agency Nasa has been asked to give advice, as it has vital expertise in helping astronauts cope with long periods in confined conditions.
In fact, these men have quite a lot going for them, say psychologists. At least for now.

First, and obviously, they are miners and hence used to spending long periods underground in cramped confinement.
They are well-trained, fit and resourceful men used to dealing with extreme conditions and physical hardship.
The copper and gold miners of the Atacama Desert are a tough breed.

This is is a beautiful, bleak land where the ochre desert soils are stained vivid blues and greens by the minerals they contain.

Copper and other precious metals provide a good living for these people and the remote towns are steeped in mining.
Apart from a stomach problem reported by one of the miners, the men are physically well and sustained no injuries when the access tunnel collapsed.
According to Dr Jennifer Wild, a clinical psychologist at King's College in London, there is a direct link between hope and the chance of survival in such circumstances.

Celebration: Happy relatives continue to cheer the news that the 33 miners were found alive after they were trapped underground on August 5

Round the clock: The camp where relatives of the trapped miners wait for news is seen outside the San Jose collapsed mine in Copiapo, Chile
'The more confidently rescue workers can convey information that they will be successfully rescued, the better this will be for the miners,' she says.
Certainly spirits at the San Jose Mine seem high. On Monday a walkie-talkie and camera system was lowered through the hole about six inches across dug to the miners' cavern.

At the same time rehydration tablets and glucose were also lowered down, along with medical questionnaires, and a further access shaft is being dug.

The miners spoke by radio to rescue workers yesterday requesting cold beer, peaches and toothbrushes.

Mining minister Laurence Golborne spoke with Luis Urzua, 54, who said: 'Shift foreman here. We are all healthy and hungry, waiting for you to rescue us.'

Recovery mission: A special drill, the Xtrata 950, will dig a 66 centimeters diameter escape hole for the miners
The miners then broke out into a spontaneous version of the Chilean national anthem when the minister told them: 'The whole country is praying for you.' The singing brought tears of joy to relatives.
The men also shouted, 'Viva Chile!' when they were told their families were waiting for them in a camp up above.

Relatives will be able to send letters in capsules through the borehole.
Lilianett Ramirez, whose 63-year-old husband Mario Gomez is trapped, said: 'After 30 years of marriage we will start sending each other love letters again.'

The Chilean nation has come together over this near-tragedy, and the knowledge that the entire country is behind them will in itself help the men maintain their good spirits.

A team of psychiatrists will speak to the miners by phone to try to keep them mentally healthy.

But as time drags on, and the initial euphoria of their discovery fades, the grim reality of being stuck underground will inevitably sink in.

Then, the miners will have to draw upon their mental reserves more than their physical strength. The most important thing, according to Dr Wild, is to develop a routine.

The miners will need to organise themselves and keep busy, digging latrines in the dirt if they can, and organising rotas for cleaning, sorting out the rations and so on.

Over time, it is inevitable that some sort of command structure will emerge underground.

This may simply reflect the structure that existed before the accident; indeed it appears that 54-year-old Mr Urzua has already assumed leadership of the trapped men.
But it is possible that new, natural leaders may emerge, men who have the inner resilience to take charge if morale starts to crumble.

It is perhaps inevitable that tensions will arise. But these are not strangers thrown together by chance; they are professional workers who know each other, trapped only by bad luck and circumstance.
'It is quite possible that the experience will bring them closer together and this will minimise potential tensions,' says Dr Wild.

It is important that communications are maintained, but caution is also needed. Experts say some censorship may be necessary — keeping news of family deaths or illness from the miners.

Indeed, they have not been told just how long the rescue will take, only the positive news that it is on its way.

Celebration: Chilean President Sebastian Pinera holds a note from the 33 miners trapped in the copper and gold mine. It reads 'All 33 of us are fine in the shelter'
Relief: Relatives of trapped miners react after learning that the miers are alive
Conditions in the cavern — essentially a small fissure in the rock — are difficult but, hopefully, not fatally so. Fortuitously, fresh water supplies were replenished just before the spiral tunnel which serves the mine caved in 19 days ago.
Even so, this will run out and dehydration is probably the biggest physical hazard the miners face. Depending on the humidity levels, the 36-degree heat means they will need to consume anything up to a gallon of fresh water a day.

If they are down there until Christmas, thousands of gallons of water will somehow need to be piped down.

There is some food, but only enough for a couple of days or so, and supplies will have to be replenished through the access shaft that has been dug.

Dr Sergio Aguila, part of the rescue team, said the men have been surviving on two spoonfuls of tuna, half a cup of milk and half a biscuit every 48 hours.

It is thought they were coming to the end of their rations when contact was made.

Over time, these men will suffer muscle wastage and this will in itself lower their spirits. Unless they can find some way to exercise in the limited space available, they will, according to sports scientist Alan Richardson of Brighton University, 'find coming out to be like coming off a space flight'.

Fortunately, a supply of mine batteries means the men will not have to sit out the weeks in darkness — something which would probably be enough to push many people over the edge into madness.

They would be well advised to turn the lights which serve the mine on and off to mimic the day-night cycle.

Sanitation will be a big problem. The amount of human waste generated by 33 people over possibly 130 days does not bear thinking about, and is bound to create a risk of disease.
Thanks to the 120-year-old mine's sprawling network of entrances and shafts, there is excellent ventilation; the miners will at least not run out of air.

And because this is not a coal mine, there is no danger from the explosive gases associated with fossil fuel deposits.

At this stage, no one can say exactly how long the rescue operation will take. There are several possible ways down to the shelter cavern, and rescuers will spend days planning a route taking account of paths and shafts in the rock.
The best-case scenario, say experts, is two months; the very worst, if there is deemed to be a risk of further collapse, could see the miners trapped until next summer.

The temptation will be to drill down as fast as possible and use explosive charges to blast through the rock, but this could cause the walls of the shelter to collapse.

Yesterday it was reported that an enormous machine with diamond-tipped drills capable of carving a 26-inch-wide tunnel through solid rock and boring at about 65 feet a day was on its way from central Chile to the mine.

Just setting it up will take at least three days.

The Chilean miners have already been trapped underground longer than almost anyone in history. Last year, three miners survived 25 days trapped in a flooded mine in southern China, and two miners in north-eastern China were rescued after 23 days in 1983. Few other rescues have taken more than two weeks.
If the miners do indeed have to spend four months underground, they will set a grim new record for pushing human endurance to the absolute limit.
For most people this would be the ultimate nightmare; even for these hardy miners it will be a test almost beyond endurance.

Let us hope for them — and for the people of Copiapo — that this year Christmas really does come early.

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