Trapped Chilean miners

[TheFifthElement]

Anyone else sitting on the edge of their seat waiting for those poor guys to get pulled safely from the earth?

May they soon be reunited with their families and may they never, ever have to go down a mine again.

[kiki1982]

They will though... If they are real miners, anyway.

But, I find it amazing that they can actually get them out of there! I mean, 20 years ago that was almost impossible to do. I wouldn't like to be in their position, but at least they are practically sure of getting out. Admirable and amazing at the same time.

[Maximilianus]

Unfortunately, they'll be going down again, surely in no time, unless they are scared enough to get trapped down there a second time and find themselves a chance for a different job, which might be unlikely. A very good thing is they all seem healthy.

[L.M. The Third]

Did anyone else hear that in a few cases more than one 'wife' or 'girlfriend' showed up?

[Maximilianus]

Did anyone else hear that in a few cases more than one 'wife' or 'girlfriend' showed up?
I did. Would you say it's uncommon?

[TheFifthElement]

Well, one could hope that there's a Hollywood movie in this somewhere, and maybe they'll get some money for that. Or that their experience, being invaluable to the scientific community (both in examining the mental and physical health implications of being trapped underground for this length of time) may generate them an alternative avenue of work. Or maybe the mining company might compensate them, or at the very least find them a job above ground. Unless they want to go back down, of course. But whether they have to? Hopefully not.



But, I find it amazing that they can actually get them out of there! I mean, 20 years ago that was almost impossible to do. I wouldn't like to be in their position, but at least they are practically sure of getting out. Admirable and amazing at the same time.
Yes, my husband and I were discussing this this morning. It's almost like an episode of Thunderbirds except, of course, that the Thunderbirds would have got them out weeks ago and it would have involved jet packs somehow :D

[hoope]

I really felt so sad when i heard about it first in the news...
May they return safely..

But i was wondering .. how could then spend all that time . i heard it was whole two months. why no action done to take them out so soon ..
Will they have enough air .. ?

I remembering watching a movies on such incidence.. but it was a US mines.. and that lady which is the one in control .. has to take four men out .. including her husband and son.... along with two other men .. They had to do it fast.. and then did it in a period of days... it was s true story i guess.. or it resembled so ..

Anyway .. hope these men get back to their families .

[OrphanPip]

They were drilling all that time, it just takes very long to get down there, you can't blast the rock, like you would digging a regular mine, because you might collapse it on them.

I don't know how I would be able to take it. I once went down into a coal mine out East, and it was so claustrophobic, some of the tunnels, where children worked, were only like 4-5 feet high. A copper mine I visited once before was a bit more tolerable.

My father only worked two years as a coal miner, says it was the worse job he ever had.

[L.M. The Third]

I did. Would you say it's uncommon?

How should I know? But probably not.

[JuniperWoolf]

God, that would SUCK. I think I would go bonkers if I were stuck in a hole in the ground for two months. I once read about the people who explore caves, just learning about it made me feel anxious and I'm not claustrophobic at all.

[Virgil]

Did anyone else hear that in a few cases more than one 'wife' or 'girlfriend' showed up?

:lol: I did and got a good laugh out of it. He may be reluctant to come out. :D

[Maximilianus]

How should I know? But probably not.
I'm curious... what would you have done, uh? :brow: :p :D


:lol: I did and got a good laugh out of it. He may be reluctant to come out. :D
:goof: :p

[kiki1982]

Did anyone else hear that in a few cases more than one 'wife' or 'girlfriend' showed up?

:lol: Ooh, that's bad. I agree with Virgil. Maybe he wants to stay :hand:.


Well, one could hope that there's a Hollywood movie in this somewhere, and maybe they'll get some money for that. Or that their experience, being invaluable to the scientific community (both in examining the mental and physical health implications of being trapped underground for this length of time) may generate them an alternative avenue of work. Or maybe the mining company might compensate them, or at the very least find them a job above ground. Unless they want to go back down, of course. But whether they have to? Hopefully not.

Oh, I am afraid you're wrong there. Sorry for the Latin-Americans here, but companies over there are really really devious. I read in a report in a Belgian newspaper just after they got trapped that they would not get any wages while they were down there even! I don't know whether that has gone through, but still, it seemed normal for the company to deny them payment as they were not working. It would surprise me if they could actually go to court, and could prove that it was the company's fault that they got trapped (because it could also be a genuine accident) and thus demand compensation. Unless maybe a good lawyer volunteers to get that group of people to sue the company, but where does the money come from for the court itself? I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they had barely enough to feed their families with...
A film, like you say, might do them good, like it did with Slumdog Millionaire, but then they will have to have very good reresentation not to be conned into a bad deal...


I don't know how I would be able to take it. I once went down into a coal mine out East, and it was so claustrophobic, some of the tunnels, where children worked, were only like 4-5 feet high. A copper mine I visited once before was a bit more tolerable.

My father only worked two years as a coal miner, says it was the worse job he ever had.

:eek: I don't think I would be able to go down, although I would like to, I just don't feel right, knowing that there is x amount of 100s of meters of ground above me... I already had that in the catacombs in Rome, let alone in a mine :sosp:.
But I believe your father.

Did you know that in the 19th century they even had horses and donkeys in mines to pull those little carts. They never came out, poor beasts. They went down to work, and they would never see daylight again until they were dead :(.

[kasie]

My grandfather was a coal miner and was caught in two underground accidents. In the first, he and his fellow miners were burned in a blowback of gas: he was the First Aider and had to dress all the others' wounds before attending to himself. When he recovered he went back down the mine - as a previous poster remarked, opportunities for work were limited in the area. Some years later he was trapped by a rock fall and left for dead: next day, two of his colleagues volunteered to go back down the mine to search for survivors, found him, dug him out from under the rock and brought him to the surface. (They were awarded the George Medal for their bravery.) His legs were crushed, he was told he would never walk again. The mine owners paid for his medical treatment and aarded him a tiny pension, not enough to live on. He had a wife and two young children so he made himself walk again or they would all have starved or ended up in the workhouse - there was no Invalidity Pension in those days, just before WWI. He found himself a 'safer' job in the quarry ('safer' because it was above ground) and worked there until his mid-seventies, protesting at his enforced retitement after a bout of pleurisy that there were 'years of good work' left in him yet.

He never spoke of his overnight ordeal underground, save to tell a friend at the time that he had not dared to fall asleep because he could breathe only by concentrating on the physical act of drawing breath. I learned of it only when the local newspaper ran a feature on the news headlines of fifty years ago. Then my aunt told me the tale. It was only years later that I realised she would have been too young to have remembered the event and what I was hearing was my grandmother's voice relating the story, etched into her memory like a wax cylinder recording. I cannot imagine how he lived with this memory and I cannot imagine how those Chilean miners will live with their memories - I just hope there will be some good help available to them not just when they surface but for a good many years to come.

[keilj]

May they soon be reunited with their families and may they never, ever have to go down a mine again.

reminds me of the story about the Essex that I heard about recently. It was a whaling vessel that was destroyed by an angry whale. Some of the men were actually rescued after months at sea (they were delirious and nearly starved) - and yet some of them turned right around and went on more whaling expeditions

(understandable becasue of $ and skills, but astonishing nonetheless)

[L.M. The Third]

I'm curious... what would you have done, uh? :brow: :p :D


Never mind what I'd do if I was to arraign him before my notoriously harsh bar of judgment. I think it's more merciful to leave him down there, than to come out to two furious women. :D

[Virgil]

Never mind what I'd do if I was to arraign him before my notoriously harsh bar of judgment. I think it's more merciful to leave him down there, than to come out to two furious women. :D

:lol: :lol: :lol: That is so funny and so true.

[Maximilianus]

Oh, I am afraid you're wrong there. Sorry for the Latin-Americans here, but companies over there are really really devious. I read in a report in a Belgian newspaper just after they got trapped that they would not get any wages while they were down there even! I don't know whether that has gone through, but still, it seemed normal for the company to deny them payment as they were not working. It would surprise me if they could actually go to court, and could prove that it was the company's fault that they got trapped (because it could also be a genuine accident) and thus demand compensation. Unless maybe a good lawyer volunteers to get that group of people to sue the company, but where does the money come from for the court itself? I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they had barely enough to feed their families with...
A film, like you say, might do them good, like it did with Slumdog Millionaire, but then they will have to have very good reresentation not to be conned into a bad deal...
I am not so sure about this. Several reporters from my country have been posted there since day one, interviewing many of the relatives also posted there since day one, and I never heard any complain regarding wages being canceled. Actually, quite the opposite is being said, like they will have a 250 grand bonus, travels around the world, and some other rewards. If it's really going to be like that, I would love to be a miner buried down there, so I can gather a handful of rewards once they pull me out :p


Never mind what I'd do if I was to arraign him before my notoriously harsh bar of judgment. I think it's more merciful to leave him down there, than to come out to two furious women. :D
:smilielol5:http://smiles.kolobok.us/artists/just_cuz/JC_goodpost.gifhttp://smiles.kolobok.us/artists/just_cuz/JC_you_rock.gif

[L.M. The Third]

:smilielol5:http://smiles.kolobok.us/artists/just_cuz/JC_goodpost.gifhttp://smiles.kolobok.us/artists/just_cuz/JC_you_rock.gif

Thanks. I take it that I was wise to say that rather than mention thumb-screws, Chinese torture, scalping, burning at the stake, hanging, the gibbet, or any of the other techniques I've learned about through years of reading history? :smilewinkgrin:
I don't mention the guillotine since it was invented as a merciful device. :D

[Maximilianus]

(...) thumb-screws, Chinese torture, scalping, burning at the stake, hanging, the gibbet (...)

That sounds so juicy!!
http://fc02.deviantart.net/images2/i/2004/02/e/f/Evil_smile.gif

:p :lol:

[kiki1982]

Ok, I don't want to stem this juicy discussion, but THE FIRST FIVE ARE OUT!

Isn't that amazing.

[Silas Thorne]

More and more are coming out with each coming hour. Since they want to wait for the others, the atmosphere would be like a big party. I'm happy the government is so involved. :) If this happened in China I'm a bit cynical about what would have happened.

[kiki1982]

So, it seems that one guy, Barrios, indeed had a wife and girl friend turn up... Also a hero below the surface, administering medical aid, but much more aid up there, apparently... Sorry, I don't mean to be horrible.

But the thing has turned nasty now, after some verbal fights between wife and girl friend... He has given power of atorney over his financial affairs... to his girlfriend! She will be there at the tube to meet him, and not his wife of 28 years...

I mean, poor wife, imagine being anxious about your hubby down there 700m below your feet, and then he just leaves you at the drop of a hat... And that after a month of waiting on your part.

Though I wouldn't like to be him when he comes out of hospital in 2 days...

Good luck, my friend.

In Dutch, there is a phrase for this:

Al is de leugen nog zo snel, de waarheid achterhaalt hem wel.
Though the lie is ever so quick, truth in all probability will overtake it. :D

[edit] Although now there seems to have been some reconciliation as his wife seems to be there to greet him after all... Though it was not agreed upon by the local TV who said it was the sister. :hand:

[BienvenuJDC]

The LIFE count is 22 and counting...

[OrphanPip]

More and more are coming out with each coming hour. Since they want to wait for the others, the atmosphere would be like a big party. I'm happy the government is so involved. :) If this happened in China I'm a bit cynical about what would have happened.

I've heard Hu Jintao has done a pretty good job cutting down on mine fatalities, but it's still around 2-3 thousand a year.

(This is way down from the 7000 killed each year when Jiang Zemin was in charge.)

[JuniperWoolf]

Wow, that's nuts. In the last fourty years of my town's mine operation we've only had 24 people die.

[OrphanPip]

Well they do have A LOT of mines in China.

[JuniperWoolf]

Hmm, that is true. And probably a lot of people working on each mine, so where one accident here might take out just one person over there it might take out three or four.

[Helga]

Now they are all out! I wondered about the sunglasses at first but felt kinda stupid when I figured out why they all had'em on hehe..

[BienvenuJDC]

Praise the Lord, ALL of the miners were rescued. Thanks to all who so graciously risked their lives and dedicated their time.

[Maximilianus]

Ok, I don't want to stem this juicy discussion, but THE FIRST FIVE ARE OUT!

Isn't that amazing.
It is. Well, by now, everyone seems safe enough :)


So, it seems that one guy, Barrios, indeed had a wife and girl friend turn up... Also a hero below the surface, administering medical aid, but much more aid up there, apparently... Sorry, I don't mean to be horrible.

But the thing has turned nasty now, after some verbal fights between wife and girl friend... He has given power of atorney over his financial affairs... to his girlfriend! She will be there at the tube to meet him, and not his wife of 28 years...

I mean, poor wife, imagine being anxious about your hubby down there 700m below your feet, and then he just leaves you at the drop of a hat... And that after a month of waiting on your part.

Though I wouldn't like to be him when he comes out of hospital in 2 days...

Good luck, my friend.
How dirty people become when a third gets in the middle :frown2:


In Dutch, there is a phrase for this:

Al is de leugen nog zo snel, de waarheid achterhaalt hem wel.
Though the lie is ever so quick, truth in all probability will overtake it. :D

I feel an urge to take this quote as a personal motto... hope you won't mind :)


Praise the Lord, ALL of the miners were rescued. Thanks to all who so graciously risked their lives and dedicated their time.
Agreed!

[TheFifthElement]

Thanks to all who so graciously risked their lives and dedicated their time.

Indeed. In times when the news we hear is all too often tragic and despairing this, for once, is a real message of hope and joy. So good to see them out and reunited with their families.

[kiki1982]

Yes, that is nice.

Great coverage by the BBC by the way. What would we do without auntie Beep. :D

[L.M. The Third]

So they are all out now? Wonderful! There are few times I wish I had tv, but this was one.

[Virgil]

I happened to see the first and the last come out. This was a great story all around: endurance, manliness, heroism, engineering, family, patriotism, and praise to God. Everything that moves me. :)

[wessexgirl]

Yes, that is nice.

Great coverage by the BBC by the way. What would we do without auntie Beep. :D

I think that Auntie Beeb has been heavily criticised in some quarters for their coverage Kiki..."how many journalists and crews do they need there, blah, blah, blah..?" :rolleyes:

I hear that there has been another mining disaster in China today, (courtesy of the Beeb:)), but I fear that there won't be such a good outcome as the Chilean one. One of the Chilean miners was giving an interview earlier saying he would be going back down the mines :eek:! I don't think it was the one with the wife/girlfriend dilemma, but perhaps he will be keen to go back too :lol:. I'm sure they will not need to and good luck to them all.

[kiki1982]

I think that Auntie Beeb has been heavily criticised in some quarters for their coverage Kiki..."how many journalists and crews do they need there, blah, blah, blah..?" :rolleyes:

Yes, I heard about that. How do they think that the Beeb provides 24-hour coverage? By sending a crew of three measely people and having them work the whole bloody time. So, no. A camera man, sound man, journalist, director who looks for info on those miners, that's 4. 8 hours work for each, that is 3 shifts. And 4 times three is 12 if they keep it to a bare minimum. And then a few reserves, because someone might get sick, they all need lunch and a break etc. Not to speak about the research. How do they think the journalist gets interviews? By asking. Who asks? Right, another team... Do they think we are still in Dickens land or what where people can be required to work 24/7? I get so angry about those people. :mad2: It's at least better than the Belgian journalist who also went and... was too late :rolleyes:. I mean, seriously, just do not bother.


I hear that there has been another mining disaster in China today, (courtesy of the Beeb:)), but I fear that there won't be such a good outcome as the Chilean one. One of the Chilean miners was giving an interview earlier saying he would be going back down the mines :eek:! I don't think it was the one with the wife/girlfriend dilemma, but perhaps he will be keen to go back too :lol:. I'm sure they will not need to and good luck to them all.

I heard about that too... Feel so sorry for them...

I just wonder what will happen now... I mean, the circus is almost over and life will return to normal with its petty concerns, i.e. money. I mean, it was good money they made (due to the risk factor), about 1000-1500 dollars, and what are they supposed to do otherwise? That's all they know and possibly the only work up there... Sad really.

[kilted exile]

anyone else get a smile from the irony that on thatcher's birthday all the tv coverage was filled by smiling miners?

[DanielBenoit]

anyone else get a smile from the irony that on thatcher's birthday all the tv coverage was filled by smiling miners?

ROFL :smilielol5: