Miners' survival during 2010 Copiapó mining accident 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. At 21:55 CLDT on 13 October, all 33 miners had been rescued, almost all in good medical condition, and expected to recover fully. Two miners had silicosis,
Pabst Mine disaster from the wooden planks lining the mine walls and heated with the miners' carbide lamps. Soon after the collapse, a miner named Alfred Maki descended the shaft and heard signals from the men trapped inside. Over the next five days, rescuers began digging from the neighboring "H" shaft to try to reach the trapped miners. They descended first to nearly the bottom of "H" shaft, where a tunnel connected the two shafts, and then began working their way up the ladderway of "G" shaft. On the fifth day, they were able to reach the trapped miners. According to news reports,