Chile Miners

In August there was a collapse at the San Jose mine near Copiapó in northern Chile. Two weeks later, 33 men believed to be dead were discovered alive in a safety chamber. They had survived on 3 days worth of emergency food.

Rescue efforts unfolded on the surface in earnest. A small shaft was drilled for conveying messages and delivering supplies in a container called the "paloma" - dove. While three rescue shafts were drilled simultaneously, a specialized shaft elevator was developed for retrieving the men from the mine. To accomplish these plans, Chile accepted the help of NASA and other international organizations.

While engineers worked to rescue the men, the families of the miners gathered in a camp nearby to await their reunion. The camp came to be known as Camp Esperanza – Camp Hope.

After nearly three months, one of the rescue drills finally reached the men. And on October 13, they began bringing the men to the surface.

Logistics prevented us from actually getting to the mine to cover the stories. It takes 10 hours to drive from Santiago to Copiapó. And reports told us that Copiapó was a circus of media personnel. It would be impossible to get close enough to get a story.

So we reported from the office - And actually got better stories than we would have gotten had we tried to go to the mine. Our photographer, the only person on our team who speaks Spanish fluently, got on the phone and did some great reporting.

We talked to Igor Bravo, a rescue engineer who used his connections to bring a minister to Camp Hope to be with the families.

We talked to Pastor Marcelo Leiva, the minister who came to Camp Hope as a result of Bravo’s initiative. Leiva was given the opportunity to communicated with the miners and give speial encouragement to José “The Pastor” Henríquez, the trapped miner who became the group’s spiritual leader during their ordeal.

And we talked to Christian Maureira, a Santiago Minister who provided special t-shirts for the miners to wear during their rescue. The t-shirts said “¡Gracias Señor!” – Thank you, Lord! – and were meant to ensure that God got all the glory for the survival and rescue of the miners.

We busted the stories out in a matter of days and I’m really pleased with how they turned out. And it was a blast to be in Chile as all this unfolded – an already patriotic country given even more reason to take pride. Celebratory cars were honking in the streets and every family had tear-filled eyes locked to their televisions as the men reached the surface alive.

After earthquakes and trapped miners, it’s clear to me that Chile is a country that can withstand almost anything.