Rescue plans for 2010 Copiapó mining accident estimated more than 1 billion people watching the rescue on live television around the world. The San José Mine is about north of Copiapó, in northern Chile. The miners were trapped approximately from the mine entrance. The mine had a history of instability that had led to previous accidents, including one death. The retrieval of the first miner, Florencio Ávalos, began on Tuesday, 12 October at 23:55 CLDT, with the rescue capsule reaching the surface 16 minutes later. Less than 24 hours later, at 21:55 CLDT on 13 October, all 33 miners had been rescued, almost all in good medical
2010 Copiapó mining accident to their common goal. "You just have to speak the truth and believe in democracy", he said. "Everything was voted on; we were 33 men, so 16 plus one was a majority." 54-year-old Urzúa was the last man out after 70 long days trapped below the Atacama desert. Following the collapse of the mine on 5 August, he had dispatched men to find out what had happened and see if escape was possible, but they could not find an exit route. "We were trying to find out what we could do and what we could not", said Urzúa. "Then we