World rejoice with Chile
Last miner exits:
CHILE: A complex, against-all-odds rescue of 33 miners trapped
in Chile for more than two months transfixed this nation and the world
Wednesday, with wild celebrations breaking out at its successful
completion.
The ascent of the last of the miners, grizzled leader Luis Urzua,
capped nearly 22 hours of euphoric scenes happening every 30 minutes or
so, when each of the trapped men was winched individually to the surface
through a narrow escape shaft.
It also spelled the end of a record ordeal lived by the men, who had
survived 10 nightmarish weeks in a dank and dark tunnel 622 meters
(2,041 feet) below the surface of Chile’s northern Atacama desert
following an August 5 cave-in. “They were experiencing a kind of
rebirth,” President Sebastian Pinera said in a televised address to the
nation from the San Jose gold and copper mine after all the miners were
freed.
The rescue operation, he affirmed, was “inspiring... for the whole
world.”
Pinera hailed Urzua for doing his duty and seeing off all his men
before “leaving last like a ship’s captain.”
The two men, grateful miner and smiling president, led a rendition of
Chile’s national anthem that was echoed across the country. Everywhere
from the mine to the capital Santiago, tears glistened in eyes and on
cheeks as the South American nation joined together in an unsurpassed
moment of deep joy. Car horns honked in cities and vuvezela horns
blared.
Thirty-three balloons decked out in Chile’s red-white-and-blue colors
floated free into the night sky above the mine at the exact moment the
last of the 33 trapped miners was brought to the surface.
The depth of feeling electrified the thousands of international
journalists covering the rescue, who respectfully stood in silence
alongside the miners’ families, recording the event, and sharing in it.
Relatives later streamed up a hill where 33 Chilean flags had been
planted to give thanks for the “miracle” they had witnessed.
“It’s the end of a nightmare,” said Silvia Segovia, sister of one of
the miners, Victor Segovia.
“It’s a new life about to begin,” said Belgica Ramirez, the
sister-in-law of Mario Gomez, the oldest of the miners saved.
The spectacular rescue was followed by an estimated one billion
people around the world, many of them catching live updates on
television or the Internet. Presidents Barack Obama of the United
States, Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil,
as well as Pope Benedict XVI and other dignitaries sent their
congratulations during the day. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed
the “extraordinary triumph of human ingenuity and the strength of the
human spirit.” San Jose Mine, AFP |