Скачать или смотреть Early morning scenes of mine, relatives' camp as rescue continue

(24 Aug 2010)
San Jose mine, Copiapo - 24 August 2010
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Pan from "Campamento Esperanza" (Hope Camp) to drilling machines with flags
2. Policemen guarding gate to enter the mine
3. Various of drilling machines working
4. Various of religious images set up on improvised altars
5. Mid of piece of paper reading (Spanish) "Thank you Virgin (Mary) for listening to us
6. Various of tents of relatives of miners
STORYLINE:
The 33 miners trapped deep underground thanked their rescuers on Tuesday and settled in for a long wait until a tunnel wide enough to pull them out can be carved through a half-mile of solid rock.
Raising hopes further, a second bore hole punched into the chamber where the miners are entombed, and a third probe was nearing the spot on Tuesday.
After parcelling out tiny bits of food and drinking water carved from the mine floor with a backhoe for 18 days, the miners were getting glucose and rehydration tablets to restore their digestive systems.
Capsules carrying oxygen also were sent down through a six-inch (15 centimetre) bore hole to help the men survive the hot, stuffy, humid conditions in the lower reaches of the gold and copper mine.
The bore holes also will be used to lower communication lines and to provide ventilation, the Chilean Mining Minister said.
Meanwhile, the miners were sending up notes to their families in the same supply capsules on Tuesday, providing solace to people who have held vigil in the chilly Atacama desert since the August 5 collapse.
Their ordeal, however, is far from over.
Above ground, doctors and psychological experts are debating how to keep the miners sane during the estimated four months it will take to dig a tunnel large enough to get them out of the safety chamber 2,200 feet (670 meters) underground, where they have been buried since August 5.
Rescuers sent down questionnaires on Monday to determine each man's condition, along with medicine and small microphones to enable them to speak with their families during their long wait.
A rescue leader said officials are organising the families into small groups to keep their talks as orderly as possible.
Meanwhile, an enormous machine with diamond-tipped drills capable of carving a 26-inch (66-centimetre) -wide tunnel through solid rock and boring at about 65 feet (20 meters) a day was on its way from central Chile to the mine, outside Copiapo in north-central Chile.
The miners' relatives are suing and claim their loved ones were put at risk working in a mine known for unstable shafts and rock falls.
Company executives have denied the accusations and say the lawsuits could force them into bankruptcy.

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