Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Whole World Rejoices for the Chilean Miners

We've just been a hot bed for news down here in South America lately. First, with the coup attempt, if that's what were still calling it, here in Ecuador and now with the rescue of the miners trapped in Chile. At least, one of the events isn't making a mockery of the continent!

Here's a brief recap of what happened:

On August 5 a mine in in San Jose, Chile collapsed with 33 men still 700 meters underground. They've went without any communication with the outside world for nearly 2.5 weeks and they made their food rations last that whole time. Finally, they received extra food, water, a video camera and even cigarettes while the rest of the world tried to figure out how to get them out of the mine. The major risk was that more rocks would collapse the tunnel even further, crushing the men trapped inside. The men assigned tasks to each other and remained relatively positive. They were able to talk with their families and they made videos of their life underground.

Yesterday the Chilean government began extracting the men through a small man-sized hole in a contraption that looks like a rocket. Families, spectators, and mobs of media have all camped outside of the mine. Although, the government has taken extra precautions to protect the men's privacy.

Finally the media has something JOYFUL to report about this beautiful continent!

Check out these articles for more info: this one, this one, and this one!

MULUB,
Taylor

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