page_title: 2010 Copiapó mining accident
section_title: Rescue
hierarchical_section_title: 2010 Copiapó mining accident / Rescue operation San Lorenzo / Rescue
caption_attribution_description: English: Luis Urzúa, the leader of the trapped miners and the last to be lifted to freedom, celebrates with President Piñera at San Jose Mine near Copiapo, Chile.
context_page_description: The 2010 Copiapó mining accident, also known then as the "Chilean mining accident", began on Thursday, 5 August 2010, with a cave-in at the San José copper–gold mine, located in the Atacama Desert 45 kilometers north of the regional capital of Copiapó, in northern Chile. Thirty-three men, trapped 700 meters underground and 5 kilometers from the mine's entrance via spiraling underground ramps, were rescued after 69 days.
  After the state-owned mining company, Codelco, took over rescue efforts from the mine's owners, exploratory boreholes were drilled. Seventeen days after the accident, a note was found taped to a drill bit pulled back to the surface: "Estamos bien en el refugio, los 33".
  Three separate drilling rig teams, nearly every Chilean government ministry, the United States' NASA space agency, and a dozen corporations from around the world cooperated in completing the rescue. On 13 October 2010 the men were winched to the surface one at a time, in a specially built capsule, as an estimated 1 billion people watched via video stream worldwide.
  With few exceptions all were in good medical condition with no long-term physical effects anticipated.
context_section_description: The original plan called for two rescue workers to descend into the mine before bringing the first miner to the surface. However, to avoid delay, rescuers decided to bring a miner to the surface in the returning capsule that had taken González down. An "empty" trial run had taken place the previous day, with the capsule stopping just 15 meters (49 ft) before the end of the shaft.
  After a further safety check, 15 minutes later miner Florencio Ávalos began his ascent from the mine. TV cameras both inside the mine and on the surface captured the event and broadcast it worldwide. Urzúa was the last to ascend.
  Each transit of the capsule, whether up or down, was projected to take 15 minutes, giving a total time of 33 hours for the rescue operation. In practice, after the capsule's first few transits, it became apparent that the trip might be shorter than the projected 15 minutes and each rescue cycle should take less than 1 hour. As the eighteenth miner was brought to the surface, Chilean Mining Minister Laurence Golborne stated "We have advanced at a faster time than we originally planned. I foresee we might conclude the whole operation before tonight."
  After stepping free from the rescuers and greeting his son, Urzúa embraced Piñera saying, "I've delivered to you this shift of workers, as we agreed I would." The president replied, "I gladly receive your shift, because you completed your duty, leaving last like a good captain." Piñera went on to say "You are not the same after this, and Chile won't be the same either."
  A large Chilean flag that had hung in the mine chamber during the rescue was brought up by Luis Urzúa. Once all the miners had been extracted, the rescuers in the mine chamber displayed a banner reading "Misión cumplida Chile" ("Mission accomplished Chile"). Manuel González was the first rescuer down and the last up, spending 25 hours 14 minutes in the mine. Rescuers needing to sleep did so in the mine to avoid tying up the capsule on rescue-delaying journeys to the surface. When the last rescuer surfaced, Piñera covered the top of the rescue shaft with a metal lid. Altogether, Fénix 2 made 39 round trips, traveling a total distance of about 50 kilometers (31 mi).
caption: Urzúa celebrates with Piñera
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