San Francisco (Obama.net)- For over two months, 33 men stuck in a Chilean mine have been waiting for a rescue mission to bring them to safety above ground. The men, ranging in age from as young as 19 to as old as 63, have been waiting in a copper and gold mine for 68 days.
But after a long recovery effort, Tuesday night was expected to see the rescue finally begin as rescue workers announced that they expected to get the first miner out by the end of the night.
The men, who are sitting half of a mile under ground level, will be given fresh clothes to return to the surface in, as well a coveralls that would protect them in the trip from below ground to above ground. They will also be given goggles that are to help their eyes adjust from the darkness of the mine back to the light of the Chilean streets.
Each man will be taken up slowly, one by one until all thirty-three of them are safely out of the mine. The machine taking them up will also be spinning as it goes up the half mile so the men are in for a tough ride up in addition to all that they have already endured.
Health precautions have been taken for a while now. Through the communication that has been taking place, the men have been put on liquid diets and have been working out one hour per day. In addition, Yonni Barrios, a miner who is also a paramedic has been checking the weight and blood of the other miners in order to make sure everyone is retaining good health. Food and water, as well as other materials, have been sent to the miners through a tiny hole.
The entire rescue process is expected to go from late Tuesday night, deep into Wednesday.
Approximately 1,500 members of the media from 39 countries have come to Copiapo, Chile to report on the situation. With the rescue finally expected to take place tonight, all eyes will be on the town and the mine.
It has already been decided that the first five men to come out will be the ones in the best shape so they can help the rescue team. The second group of five will be the ones who are sick and need to go to the hospital to soonest. And the last man will be Luis Alberto Urzua Iribarren, the shift supervisor. Iribarren volunteered to be the last one out so he can make sure his men reach safety.
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