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>The first of Chile’s 33 trapped miners were hoisted to safety in a capsule
barely wider than a man’s shoulders on Wednesday, cheering, punching the air
and hugging their families after two months deep underground.

Rescuers, relatives and friends broke into jubilant cheers as father-of-two
Florencio Avalos emerged on the surface to breathe his first fresh air in 69
days after a claustrophobic ascent of around 2,050 feet (625 meters) through
thick rock.

Hugged and kissed by relatives, the 31-year-old Avalos looked very healthy
following a nearly 16-minute journey to safety. He was then embraced by
President Sebastian Pinera as the surrounding crowd chanted “Chile! Viva
Chile!”

Next up was fellow miner Mario Sepulveda, whose whoops of joy resounded on
the surface even before he arrived to the laughs of waiting relatives. He
stepped out the capsule with a yellow bag, reached in and pulled out souvenir
rocks from below, and slapped one in Pinera’s hand.

“I’m so happy!” Sepulveda yelled, grinning, punching his fist in
the air and hugging everyone in sight.

Then came Juan Illanes, who called the trip to the surface a
“cruise”. Each of the men wore dark glasses to protect their eyes
after spending so long in the dimly-lit tunnel below.

Like wives on the surface who had their hair and nails done for the
occasion, the men looked groomed and clean-shaven.

The miners have spent a record 69 days in the hot, humid bowels of the gold
and copper mine in Chile’s northern Atacama desert since it caved in on August
5. Rescuers expect to bring all the remaining men to safety over the next two
days.

For the first 17 days of their ordeal, the miners were all believed to be
dead, and their story of survival and extraordinary rescue operation has
captured the world’s attention.

After weeks of drilling a narrow shaft down
to the miners and preparing the special capsules, the final stage began when a
rescuer descended the shaft on Tuesday night. He was hugged by the waiting
miners when he reached their tunnel deep in the mine, and he then took just
minutes to buckle Avalos into the capsule and send him to the surface.

“This is a miracle from God,” said Alberto Avalos, the first
rescued miner’s elated uncle, who rushed to the capsule as it arrived on the
surface shortly after midnight.

The men, who set a new record for the length of time workers have survived
underground after a mining accident, have been exercising to keep their weight
down for their ascent.

Nervous wives, children, parents and friends waited on an arid, rocky
hillside above the San Jose mine waiting for the men to be evacuated in an
operation expected to take up to 48 hours.

The specially-made steel cages are equipped with oxygen masks and escape
hatches in case they get stuck.

A long, agonizing wait

Rescuers were finally able to deploy the capsule, dubbed “Phoenix”
after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes, after reinforcing part of the
narrow escape shaft with metal casing to prevent rocks falling and blocking the
exit.

Engineers said the final stage of the rescue still has its risks but that
the capsule was handling well in the shaft, and they expected a smooth
extraction.

Each man’s journey to safety should take about 15 minutes. The capsule
travels at about 3 feet (1 meter) per second, or a casual walking pace, and can
speed to 10 feet (3 meters) per second if the miner being carried gets into
trouble.

The miners can communicate with rescue teams
using an intercom in the capsule. They will then be under observation at a
nearby hospital for two days.

Rescuers originally found the men, miraculously all alive, 17 days after the
mine’s collapse with a bore hole the width of grapefruit. It then served as an
umbilical cord used to pass hydration gels, water and food, as well as letters
from their families and soccer videos to keep their spirits up.

Medics say some of the men are psychologically fragile and may struggle with
stress for a long time after their rescue.

Pinera ordered an overhaul of Chile’s mine safety regulations after the
accident.

Every Chilean TV station was saturated with coverage of the rescue
operation.

“Everyone is following the rescue step by step. We are a Catholic
country and we see this as a real miracle,” said Maritza Gonzalez, a
50-year-old housewife in the capital city, Santiago.

Many relatives held vigils over the past two months at a tent settlement
dubbed “Camp Hope” above the mine, and more people joined as the
climax neared.

One of the 33 miners is a Bolivian national and Bolivian President Evo
Morales was expected to visit the mine in the early morning hours of Wednesday.

REUTERS