Chile Rejoices as Capsule Brings Miners to Freedom

SAN JOSÉ MINE, Chile — Each time the red, white and blue capsule rose smoothly out of the hole in the earth on Wednesday and another miner emerged safely, to applause and the waiting arms of his family, the scene replayed all around world with a joy that never seemed tired.
By mid-afternoon here, the precarious operation to hoist to the surface 33 miners who were trapped under a half-mile of rock for more than two months was moving along so efficiently that officials expected the job to be completed by the end of the day, far ahead of schedule.
“All okay!” 48-year-old Dario Segovia, the 20th rescued miner, shouted to his rescuers right before they lifted him out of the ground. Once freed from the cage-like rescue device, he thanked God and walked to hug his wife. Workers then wrapped him in a blanket and took him to triage for medical treatment.
After some routine maintenance, the capsule went back into the ground to fetch the next man — Yonny Barrios, 50, who became the group’s medic in the mine. He arrived to hearty handshakes and hugs from the doctors aboveground.
When the 17th miner, Omar Reygadas, 56, was released from the harnesses of the rescue capsule, he got down on his knees, then held his hands in the air and waved the blue and red flag of one of Chile’s soccer teams.
For more than 15 hours, the miners have been emerging at regular intervals in a pageant that has moved a worldwide audience — watching on television, on computers, even on mobile phones — to tears and laughter.
The second miner to reach the surface, Mario Sepúlveda, left the rescue capsule in a kind of victory dance, hugging family members and officials. He embraced the Chilean president, Sebastián Piñera, three times and presented people with gifts: rocks from the mine. He punched fists with the crowd and led a cheer: “Chi, Chi, Chi, le, le, le,” they shouted. “Miners of Chile!” The refrain echoed as subsequent miners reached the surface.
“I’ve been near God, but I’ve also been near the devil,” Mr. Sepúlveda said through a translator. “God won.”
The 12th miner — Edison Peña, 34, known for running miles in the mine tunnels every day — stepped from the escape capsule to rapturous cheers and the embrace of his girlfriend, and then another from Mr. Piñera.
“Thank God we’re alive,” Mr. Peña said. “I know now why we’re alive.”
Other miners expressed their gratitude in ways important to them. When the 17th miner, Omar Reygadas, 56, was released from the harnesses of the rescue capsule, he got down on his knees, then held his hands in the air and waved the blue and red flag of one of Chile’s soccer teams.Laurence Golborne, the mining minister, praised the rescue operation at an afternoon briefing on Wednesday, saying that officials were able to cut the time down between miners rescued from an hour to 45 minutes.
“We hope to finish this successfully by the end of this day,” he said.
Mr. Golborne did note two small problems, however. He said that the Phoenix capsule door had been sticking, and that it was necessary to do maintenance on the wheels of the capsule to prevent it from getting stuck in the shaft. “This capsule is going to continue in operations, unless there is a problem,” he said.
As of early afternoon, there were five rescue workers currently down in the mine, and a sixth rescue worker would go down “in a few hours” to replace some of the other workers, Mr. Golborne said.
Thus far, Mr. Golborne said, the most difficult rescue was that of Mario Gómez, 63, the oldest miner in the group, who had struggled with a lung condition. “We took additional precautions in this case, but he’s fine,” Mr. Golborne said. Mr. Gomez was the ninth man rescued. “Maybe we overdid it, but it’s better to do more than less.”

After the first 10 men were pulled up, Health Minister Jaime Mañalich said the next men to be raised would include those in a more “precarious” health condition, but Mr. Golborne reported no major health problems after 17 miners had been rescued.