عملية انقاذ عمال المناجم Drill Reaches Miners in Chile, but Risks Remain

more than two agonizing months after a mine collapse trapped 33 men nearly half a mile beneath the earth, a powerful drill fitted with pneumatic hammers pulverized the last feet of volcanic rock and struck air.
In the chilly desert above, machine operators yelped and poured Champagne. Bleary-eyed family members, who had gathered at the site through the night, waved the Chilean flag, sang the national anthem and shouted “Viva Chilean miners!”
Below, the miners erupted in cheers, their cries transmitted by radio to the surface. They had been trapped for 66 days, the longest known time that miners have survived a collapse. On the other side of the drill tip was their escape shaft to the surface.
“There have been hard moments, beautiful moments, sad moments, moments filled with happiness, nights where we were cold here,” said Juan Sánchez, 48, the father of Jimmy Sánchez, the youngest of the trapped miners. “But we just kept going, trusting in God that this would all work out. Right now all I feel is happiness; it’s like a calm has come over us.”