33 miners were trapped at San Jose mine in Copiapo for more than two months. They were sealed 2,041-foot into the mine's lower reaches by a collapse of 700,000 tons of rock. Finally, these men were hoisted to the surface in a rescue capsule on October 12-13. The Chilean emergency workers and President Sebastian Pinera met them on the ground. Residents and pedestrians watched the rescue on a large screen in a public square and on TVs in electronics store. No one in recorded history has survived as long trapped underground as these 33 miners. For the first two weeks, no one even knew whether they were alive.
