Peru: Nine miners rescued after six days underground
By the CNN Wire Staff
April 11, 2012 — Updated 1321 GMT (2121 HKT)
Peruvian miners rescued
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Humala renews his call to regulate illegal mines
- The nine miners had been trapped since the mine collapsed Thursday
- The president was waiting to greet them as they emerged into the daylight
- In 2010, 33 miners were rescued after being trapped underground for 69 days in Chile
(CNN) — Nine Peruvian miners emerged into the daylight Wednesday morning after six days trapped in a collapsed mine.
State television showed the miners leaving the mine, each supported by two rescuers. They wore sunglasses to protect their eyes from the light, after spending so much time in darkness.
For days, a tube snaked down to the collapsed cavern was the only connection the miners had to the surface. It provided them with oxygen, food and water, as well as communication.
Peruvian President Ollanta Humala greeted the miners at the mouth of the mine. The group unfurled the red and white Peruvian flag and waved at television cameras.
“We are happy that this high-risk operation was successful,” said Claudio Saenz, a fire department official with knowledge of the rescue efforts.
The miners had been stuck since Thursday in the wildcat Cabeza de Negro mine in southern Peru.
A cave-in over the weekend slowed rescue efforts.
It was not clear what caused the initial collapse.
Humala’s government has made a push for illegal mines and miners in Peru to be formalized and regulated so that risks decrease.
After the rescue, he made a similar argument.
“This should lead us to reflect that we have to avoid these kind of risks because the results will not always be like today,” he said.
Mining is big business in Peru, which is a major world producer of copper, silver, gold and other minerals.
The ordeal stirred memories of a 2010 Chilean mine collapse in which 33 men were trapped underground for 69 days. All those miners were rescued, pulled one by one from hundreds of meters beneath the Earth’s surface with a specially designed capsule.
Part of complete coverage on
April 10, 2012 — Updated 0936 GMT (1736 HKT)
The legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon are inspiration behind an ambitious plan to grow a rooftop forest high above Beirut’s crowded streets.
April 9, 2012 — Updated 1303 GMT (2103 HKT)
Former U.S. Ambassador says North Korea’s rocket launch plan masks political rivalries at the very top.
April 6, 2012 — Updated 1400 GMT (2200 HKT)
Greek businessman Apostolos Polyzonis, who survived setting himself on fire outside his bank, explains the despair that drove him.
April 9, 2012 — Updated 0524 GMT (1324 HKT)
During the Libyan war, Eman al-Obeidi stormed into a Tripoli hotel, screaming she had been raped. Now she is trying to start over in Colorado.
April 9, 2012 — Updated 1619 GMT (0019 HKT)
The answer has to do with the drama of choice, not with the brute facts of the disaster itself, argues professor Stephen D. Cox.
Vast portions of west and central Africa have become so dry that they can’t support crops, livestock and the millions of people who live there.
April 8, 2012 — Updated 1339 GMT (2139 HKT)
Paul Gilding: The demands we place on the environment exceed its capacity — and one day when economic growth will reach its limit.
April 10, 2012 — Updated 0852 GMT (1652 HKT)
For Rwanda’s national cycling team, survivors of its genocide, cycling is proving to have an unlikely healing power.
April 10, 2012 — Updated 1353 GMT (2153 HKT)
The Chinese capital is a city rich in culture, but some parts of its history are threatened by its booming modernization.
April 4, 2012 — Updated 1351 GMT (2151 HKT)
Sounds nutty, but U.S. researchers are using robot squirrels to learn more about how real ones interact with their main predator.
April 10, 2012 — Updated 1137 GMT (1937 HKT)
Top cooks turn their attention to an altogether more complex problem — rustling up gourmet airline food.
View post:
Recent Comments