Florencio Avalos, the first of 33 miners to be
rescued, surfaces after 69 days
underground.
A
rescue worker rode a
specially designed capsule into a mine where 33 men have been trapped half a mile
underground for 69 days, reaching them about 15 minutes later in the first phase of a
complex operation to bring the miners to the surface.
Cheers and clapping broke out at San Jose mine as
rescuer Manuel Gonzalez entered the capsule.
Chilean President Sebastián Piñera told Mr. Gonzalez, 'may God be with you, the Chilean people are with you. Bring back the miners with you.'
The miners hoped to end the longest shift of their lives by rising in the red, white and blue
rescue capsule dubbed 'the Phoenix.'