The 2010 Copiapó mining accident occurred when the San Jose Mine near to Copiapó, Chile, collapsed, leaving 32 miners of Chilean nationality and one Bolivian miner trapped inside about 700 metres (over 2000 feet) below the surface. The men were trapped in the mine for 69 days before being rescued."First miner surfaces after 69-day ordeal in Chilean mine" 2010 DAP-NEWS. All Rights Reserved. The discovery of the miners and their eventual rescue received global attention, with over 2000 members of the media reporting from the San Jose Mine. Global leaders expressed good wishes for the rescue and congratulations upon its successful completion.

Political reactions Chile

Chilean President Sebastián Piñera and First Lady Cecilia Morel were present during the rescue, greeting each of the miners individually as they emerged from the mine. Bolivian President Evo Morales was also scheduled to be on location for the rescue but did not arrive in time for the rescue of the trapped Bolivian miner, Carlos Mamani. During a visit to Europe following the rescue, Piñera was offered an audience with Queen Elizabeth II, who extended an invitation at the last minute following the mine rescue. He presented her with a rock from the mine as a gift.Chilean President Sebastian Pinera sees London sights, BBC News, 17 October 2010

After all the miners were rescued, Piñera gave a speech on location in which he was effusive in his praise of Chile and said he was "proud to be the president of all Chileans." He invoked Chile's recently passed bicentennial celebrations and said the miners were rescued with "unity, hope and faith." He also thanked Chávez and Morales, amongst others for their call for support. He said those who forced the rescue, i.e., those responsible for the collapse of the mine, will be punished, and said there would be a "new deal" with the workers.

The incident generated interest both within Chile and internationally, with the miners being declared heroes by many people. Firestations rang sirens across Chile in celebration after the final rescue. In Copiapo, thousands of people cheered, danced and wept during the rescue as people chanted "Long live Chile."

The rescue operation was broadcast live on various news networks and international media."World is captivated audience for Chile mine rescue" by Sara Hussein, Agence France-Presse - ABS.CBSnews.com, 13 September 2010; retrieved 14 October 2010. The reaction from world media was enthusiastic, and the rescue made the front pages of newspapers worldwide: not only was the rescue from the greatest depth of any such operation ever, but the miners had waited to be found – let alone rescued – longer than any other survivors who had ever been in their predicament.

Russia The rescue of the miners led to Russian bloggers asking why their country did not have a similar success story after a string of tragedies."Russian bloggers bitter at Chile rescue", by Maria Antonova, 5 October 2010, Fairfax Media.

The last Russian mining catastrophe in May 2010 took the lives of 90 miners and rescue workers at the Raspadskaya mine near Mezhdurechensk, in southern Siberia, with safety breaches blamed for the disaster.

"The miner rescue operation is completed in Chile, greatly helped by the fact that (Russian Emergencies Minister) Sergei Shoigu did not participate in it," wrote blogger xeyrulla on his LiveJournal blog.

President Dmitry Medvedev said in a message to his Chilean counterpart Sebastián Piñera that the operation is "proof that any, even the most difficult challenges can be successfully overcome by the will and courage of people united by the same goal".

China Escape capsules and shelter facilities were discussed in China after the news was released of the 33 Chilean miners being pulled to safety. An underground mine rescue chamber is believed to have played a key role. Luo Lin, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, made the remark at a meeting in Henan province after a gas leak killed 37 miners there. Mines in China were to have underground escape capsules and other emergency facilities by 2015, according to a previous administration work schedule.China planning better mine rescue facilities, China Daily, Lan Tian, 21 October 2010 (English)

The Changcun coal mine, which belongs to Shanxi's Lu'an Group, has been equipped with 16 underground escape capsules and seven shelter rooms. It was China's first mine with such safety facilities, China Youth Daily reported over the weekend. The capsule is a steel structure measuring 6.3 meters by 1.4 meters by 1.8 meters and can withstand the impact of a gas explosion. It has its own oxygen supply, air purifier and air conditioner and can keep 12 miners alive for 96 hours, according to the report.

Rest of the world

A number of foreign leaders contacted Piñera to express solidarity and pass on congratulations to Chile while the rescue efforts were ongoing, including the Presidents of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner; Colombia Juan Manuel Santos; Venezuela, Hugo Chávez; Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Peru, Alan García; Uruguay, José MujicaLula, Chávez, Cristina Fernández y David Cameron felicitan a Piñera BBC Mundo, 13 October 2010. (Spanish) and Poland, Bronisław Komorowski,President congratulates Chile Prezydent.pl, 14 October 2010. and Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, David Cameron,David Cameron congratulates Chilean President on rescue BBC News, 13 October 2010. and of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

Leaders including United States President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Pope Benedict XVI offered congratulations to the coordinators of the rescue attempt and also to the miners themselves for their bravery. Cameron said during Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons:

President of the United States Barack Obama telephoned Piñera to pay tribute to the miners, rescue workers, the government and the Chilean nation. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke to Piñera the day after the rescue. His spokesman Martin Nersirsky said:

South African President Jacob Zuma said:

Media coverage The government provided exclusive non-stop television coverage of the rescue, available for free to broadcasters around the world. The contract was won by state-owned television station TVN, which deployed a team of 45 people."TVN se adjudicó señal oficial para transmitir rescate de los 33 mineros" - Publimetro.cl - Metro International - Publicado 09:30 h. 08-10-2010. The government signal offered live views from inside the mine as the rescue capsule reached its destination.

The rescue was among the most-watched video streams of all time, according to internet monitors. Internet monitor Akamai said overall web traffic was 20 per cent higher than normal around the time the first Chilean miner was rescued late Tuesday, while the company's Net Usage Index for News indicated that the Chilean mine rescue was the fifth most-read-about online news event since the service began in 2005.Chilean mine rescue watched by millions online, Canadian Broadcasting Corp., 14 October 2010 According to a study from University of Navarra, Spain, this story had a far greater impact in the world's media than Chile's other big news story of 2010 - the massive earthquake in the south of the country in February.New challenge for Chile's rescued miners BBC News, 21 October 2010

As the rescue begun, the number of relatives swelled to 800 - but was quickly dwarfed by around 2,000 media employees who arrived from around the world to cover the event. Don Francisco, a Chilean TV host, broadcast live from the site, saying "I haven't seen so much media attention since the Apollo 11 back in 1969."Cheers and tears as first miners emerge, Sydney Morning Herald, Australia, Moises Avila and Gael Favennec, 13 October 2010

During the course of the rescue operation, around 2000 members from the international media were based on location at Camp Hope (Campamento Esperanza) close to the San Jose Mine. Reporters came from all over the world including such far flung places as Yemen, Iran, Russia, Finland, China, North Korea, and Japan. The rescue made the front pages of some newspapers worldwide.There have been some rescues from even greater depths. See, for example, the Beaconsfield Mine collapse.Chris Lefkow, AFP Emotional Chile rescue a media phenomenon , Canada.com, 14 October 2010Hilary Whiteman How media is reporting Chile mine rescue CNN, 13 October 2010

International participation A large number of governments and corporations across the globe joined in the effort to find, sustain and recover the trapped miners.

Governments

Ministries of Mining, Health, Labor and Defense Codelco, the Chilean state-owned mining company and the largest copper producer in the world. One of Codelco’s operations, El Teniente, is the world’s biggest underground mining operation and has experts trained for such emergencies. Two El Teniente employees, engineer Andrés Sougarret and René Aguilar, a risk management expert, were lent to the rescue operation full-time.From collapse to rescue: Inside the Chile mine disaster, Toronto Star, Jennifer Yang, 10 October 2010

NASA: As part of the rescue operation, NASA offered expert advice on medical, nutritional and behavioral health issues. The NASA team also provided suggestions regarding the rescue cages. NASA’s work in spacecraft design provided expertise with respect to medical requirements and design requirements. "We were able to provide the Chilean engineers designing the rescue cages some thoughts" said Dr. Michael Duncan, who led the team of NASA experts who traveled to Chile. The NASA team included two medical doctors, a psychologist and an engineer. Dr. Michael Duncan, deputy chief medical officer in NASA's Space Life Sciences Directorate at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, led the team. The other team members were physician J.D. Polk, psychologist Al Holland and engineer Clint Cragg.NASA Provides Assistance to Trapped Chilean Miners , NASA News, 13 October 2010

Corporate

Chile Drillers Supply S.A.'s in manufacturing plant in Antofagasta, Chile made the drill pipe and drill strings used in drilling the rescue bore-hole as well as numerous other items used in the rescue operation. They also assisted with logistics and planning related to Plan B. Geotec S.A. rented out the use of the Schramm T130XD air core drill which was Plan B.

Australia Drilling consultant, Kelvin Brown, an Australian drilling expert, flew to Chile to assist in the engineering plan.

Austria Östu-Stettin GMBH provided the specialized elevator winch system used to haul the miners to the surface.Chilean Crews Begin Testing Hatch to Rescue Miners, Voice of America News, Brian Wagner, 11 October 2010 Teufelberger, the manufacturer of special-purpose ropes and straps from Wels, Austria provided the long non-rotating Evolution TK 16 wire rope; non-rotating cable was necessary in order to prevent the capsule from spinning during the rescue.Teufelberger wire rope used for rescue of Chilean miners, Engineer Live, 20 October 2010

Canada Cementation Canada, Inc. operated the Strata 950 that was part of Plan A. Precision Drilling Corporation of Calgary, Canada, built the Rig-421 drilling rig and provided the crew.

Japan Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. provided the flexible fiber-optic cables essential to the two-way communications.

Korea Samsung Electronics provided the i7410 cellphone, which has a built-in projector so the men could watch soccer games, hold video teleconferences with the rescue teams on the surface and enjoy movies or watch training films.Inventions Ease the Plight of Trapped Miners, Wall Street Journal, Matt Moffett, 30 September 2010

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