Rescue operations at Chile mine reach critical stage

After more than two months of being trapped nearly half a mile underground, the 33 miners involved in the Chilean mine disaster in the Atacama desert could be just a few short days from emerging into what would be like blinding sun.

Yesterday afternoon, a powerful drill working its way through the rock had reached 130 feet from breaking through to the miners and nearly completing a rescue hole for them to be hauled to the surface, Chile's mining minister, Laurence Golborne said. He added if everything worked well the miners could be reached early Saturday.

However, a rescue would still be days away and officials have warned that the operation was entering its most dangerous phase. They said every decision was loaded with the risk that the story could well turn into disaster even as it has captured the attention of the world.

The miners would themselves have to set off dynamite to widen the hole at their end to allow the rescue capsule named the Phoenix to pass through it. Also engineers at the surface would need to decide whether to line the rescue hole with steel pipes to ensure that loose rocks do not fall into the shaft and damage or block the capsule.

But experts say, the approach whatever it would be finally would be a very close fit as the rescue hole is only a little more than two feet wide and is not even straight, which could potentially create snags as the capsule shimmies up, carrying one man at a time.

According to John E Urosek, chief of mine emergency operations for the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration, there was only about two inches of clearance around it and they would have to pull it out of that depth so many times it could get wedged.