The first of the rescue workers scheduled to go down into the mine shaft has reached the miners. He descended late Tuesday evening using the Phoenix, the rescue capsule designed by the Chilean navy. The Phoenix will start transporting the miners trapped almost kilometer below the surface of the earth one by one. The miners have been trapped since August 5th when the copper and gold mine collapsed.
The Chilean President Sebastian Pinera was present personally at the rescue site. The rescue will be broadcast live all over the world. The process of rescuing all the 33 miners will take almost 2 days. It takes the Phoenix around 15 minutes to ascend the entire length of the tunnel and even more time to descend down again.
The first one out will be 31-year-old Florencio Avalos, who had helped the camera catch pictures of the trapped miners- pictures which are now familiar to people around the world as they follow the rescue operations keenly.
U.S. President Barack Obama offered his prayers for the miners and said that the prayers of the Americans will be with the miners throughout the rescue operation.
Three more rescue workers will be send down into the shaft in order to assess the mental and physical status of the miners and to assist the sickly in preparing for the ascend to the surface. A full fledged team of doctors and psychologist await the miners in order to assist them in their adjustment to the normal environment. Before stepping into the Phoenix, each miner will be given a helmet, oxygen mask and sun glasses as their eyes adjust to the surface light.
Meanwhile, offers for books and movies and invitations to appear on T.V. shows have been pouring in for the miners. The Chilean government is worried as to how the miners will handle all the attention and money awaiting them. They have offered free psychological support for these miners for the next six months.
