#Gone home incident august 13 2010 series

Īfter the state-owned mining company, Codelco, took over rescue efforts from the mine's owners, exploratory boreholes were drilled. Seventeen days after the accident, a note was found taped to a drill bit pulled back to the surface: 'Estamos bien en el refugio los 33' ('We are well in the shelter, the 33 of us'). Three separate drilling rig teams nearly every Chilean government ministry the United States' space agency, NASA and a dozen corporations from around the world cooperated in completing the rescue. On 13 October 2010 the men were winched to the surface one at a time, in a specially built capsule, as an estimated 5.3 million people watched via video stream worldwide. With few exceptions, they were in good medical condition with no long-term physical effects anticipated.

Private donations covered one-third of the US$20 million cost of the rescue, with the rest coming from the mine owners and the government.

#Gone home incident august 13 2010 series

Previous geological instability at the old mine and a long record of safety violations for the mine's owners, San Esteban Mining Company, had resulted in a series of fines and accidents, including eight deaths, during the dozen years leading up to this accident. The San José mine is approximately at the center of this satellite imageĬhile's long tradition in mining has made the country the world's top producer of copper.įollowing three years of work, lawsuits and investigations into the collapse concluded in August 2013 with no charges filed.