Pope Prays for Chile Miners as Aussie Drilling Expert Advises Rescuers
Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
31 Aug 2010
Pope Benedict XVI has offered prayers for the 33 miners trapped 700 metres below ground in Chile as experts from the US space agency NASA join West Australian drilling consultant, Kevin Brown as part of the international rescue attempt.
Commending the men and their families to the intercession of St Lawrence, patron Saint of Miners, the Holy Father assured them all of his spiritual "closeness and continuous prayers, so that they maintain calm as they await a happy fulfilment of the work now underway for their rescue."
The men were trapped inside the San Jose gold and copper mine under Chile's Atacama Desert after a cave-in on 5 August. For 17 days it was thought all underground must have died but when rescuers pulled the drill bit out of a hole drilled into a refuge chamber, they found notes stuck to the end of it with insulation tape saying the men were alive.
Today marks the 27th day the Chilean miners have been trapped underground, longer than the previous known survival of an underground disaster which occurred in southern China in July last year when three miners were rescued from a flooded coal mine after 25 days.
News Chile's miners had survived against all odds and were in an emergency refuge with both food and water, was greeted with families rejoicing on 23 August. But the celebrations were short lived when it was discovered efforts to rescue them and bring them back to the surface and to safety may take as long as four months and may not even be completed by Christmas.
Rescuers must first drill a shaft large enough and deep enough to reach the men, while the men will have to help with their own rescue by moving more than 4000 tonnes of rubble and rock as it falls out of the hole made by the drill. Not only will they have to be physically fit to accomplish this with only basic clearing equipment, including wheelbarrows and battery powered industrial sweepers, but many may also have to lose weight to fit in the narrow shaft.
Since the mine's collapse, the Chilean government-owned Codelco mining company has managed to drill three bore holes to communicate and send supplies to the men as well as receive and send video images.
Now a giant Australian-made Strata 950 excavator has been moved into place and has begun drilling the rescue shaft. Initially it will bore a 33-centimetre wide pilot hole, which will later be doubled in diameter to 66 centimetres; wide enough to lower a rescue capsule down to the men and pull them out one by one.
As drilling on the escape hole began, Western Australian drilling expert, Kevin Brown who was called to the site on 24 August, said when he arrived in Chile he did not expect to find the men trapped underground alive.
Amazed by their stamina and spirits, he is doing all he can to help and advise as the rescue effort gets underway. A team from NASA, the US Space agency, is also helping and acting as advisors to Chilean authorities on how to keep the trapped men physically and mentally fit during what looks like an extensive ordeal.
Dr Michael Duncan, NASA's deputy chief medical officer, says the space agency will use its long experience keeping astronauts mentally and physically healthy while living in tight quarters such as those on the International Space Station.
"NASA has had a great deal of experience in dealing with men and women in isolated environments, particularly with the international space station," he said, pointing out NASA also trained and planned contingency strategies for any emergencies and that these would also be used to help Chilean officials.
Currently, along with brief contact with their families, the trapped miners are being counselled by psychiatrists and therapists to help them deal with their situation. Medical experts are also helping with advice to prevent fungal infections and other problems associated with their subterranean ordeal.
Among those brought in to speak with the miners is Eduardo Strauch who was one of the 16 member Uruguayan rugby team, who survived the 1972 air crash in Chile's Andes Mountains and was forced to wait 72 days in the snow and ice with many of his comrades dead or dying before finally being rescued.
"I am sure you are going to get out of there," Strauch, who is now 63, told the miners and said he and his teammates had just one goal, which was to see their loved ones again. "The trapped miners are the same," he said, and told them that once they are back on the surface and breathing fresh air "three or four months underground won't seem very long at all."
Pope Benedict XVI has been following rescue efforts at the Chilean mine closely and on Sunday, speaking from the Papal summer palace of Castel Gandolfo, said he hoped and prayed for a happy ending to the miners' ordeal and wished those working to free them his prayers and his hopes.
