Rescue plans for 2010 Copiapó mining accident An Austrian system of cranes and pulleys designed for the rescue capsule eventually pulled the miners to the surface. But overall, it was widely a Chilean-led team and effort. As one NASA specialist said while visiting early on in the rescue: “The Chileans are basically writing the book.” Rescue plans for 2010 Copiapó mining accident The 2010 Copiapó mining accident began as a cave-in on 5 August 2010 at the San José copper-gold mine in the Atacama Desert near Copiapó, Chile. The accident left 33 men trapped below ground who survived underground for a record 69 days. All 33 men
Miners' survival during 2010 Copiapó mining accident Although the emergency supplies were intended for only two or three days, the miners rationed them and were able to make them last for two weeks, running out just before they were discovered. They consumed “two little spoonfuls of tuna, a sip of milk and a biscuit every 48 hours” and a morsel of peach. The men used truck batteries to power their hard hat lamps for illumination. After his release from the hospital, Mario Sepúlveda said “All 33 trapped miners, practicing a one-man, one-vote democracy, worked together to maintain the mine, look for escape routes and keep up morale.”