CHILE – Two small tremors shook northern Chile early yesterday but did not disrupt efforts to rescue 33 miners trapped deep underground 20 days after a cave-in, as the men sent heartwarming messages to relatives on the surface.
Engineers are working to install a big drill to dig out the miners, found alive on Sunday. They face a wait of up to four months for rescue from a hot, humid tunnel half a mile deep, a wait they have yet to be told about.
Witnesses at the mine head said the tremors were not felt at ground level. It was unclear if the miners, who are 7km (4.5 miles) inside the winding mine, 700m (2,300ft) vertically down, were jolted.
The nation is still recovering from a devastating February 27th quake – one of the biggest ever recorded – and ensuing tsunamis, which killed more than 500 people and ravaged cities, roads and industries in south central Chile.
Miners and their relatives are exchanging letters through a narrow shaft the width of a softball, a crucial part of maintaining their mental health.
“You have no idea how much my soul aches to have been underground and unable to tell you I was alive,” trapped miner Edison Pena said in a letter to his family.
“The hardest thing is not being able to see you.”
Fellow miner Esteban Rojas promised his wife he would finally buy her a wedding dress as soon as he gets out, and hold a church marriage ceremony, 25 years after they wed in a registry office.
Officials are vetting letters sent by relatives, to avoid any shocks.
– (Reuters)