The 33 miners trapped in Chile are being brought to the surface one at a time in a special capsule. They wore dark glasses to protect against the first bright light they had seen in 69 days. The first to be rescued are:
1. Florencio Avalos, 31, the foreman. He hugged his wife and sobbing 7-year-old son.
2. Mario Sepulveda, 40, bounded from the rescue capsule and hugged everyone within reach. Then he led a chant of "Long live Chile!" and gave President Sebastian Pinera a rock signed by the miners.
3. Juan Illanes, 52. He also hugged his wife, but quickly climbed onto a cot to be wheeled away.
4. Carlos Mamani, 23, the lone Bolivian among the miners. He kissed his wife so deeply her hard hat fell off, then shouted, "Gracias, Chile!"
5. Jimmy Sanchez, 19, was the youngest of the trapped miners.
6. Osman Araya, 30. He also held his wife in a long embrace before he was wheeled away for a medical check.
7. Jose Ojeda, 46. He was on medication for diabetes but appeared healthy when he emerged.
8. Claudio Yanez, 34. His longtime girlfriend proposed while he was trapped underground. He said yes.
9. Mario Gomez, 63. He is the oldest of the trapped miners and has suffered from a lung ailment. He made the trip up with an oxygen mask.
10. Alex Vega, 31. His father also had been a miner, and was hospitalized after Alex was trapped.
11. Jorge Galleguillos, 56. He comes from a large family with about a dozen brothers. Galleguillos was said to be taking medication for hypertension.
12. Edison Pena, 34. Pena is an Elvis Presley fan, and he asked for Elvis music to be sent into the mine so the trapped workers could have singalongs.
13. Carlos Barrios, 27.
14. Victor Zamora, 33.
15. Víctor Segovia, 48.
16. Daniel Herrera, 27.
17. Omar Reygada, 56.
18. Esteban Rojas, 44. During his time underground, Rojas asked his wife of 25 years to renew their vows, and promised a formal marriage ceremony after the rescue. He reportedly had gone to work at the mine the day of the collapse to make up a day he missed to attend a relative’s funeral.
19. Pablo Rojas, 45, was working in the mine so that his son could attend medical school. He’s been married 21 years. Rojas was trapped along with two of his cousins, Victor Segovia and Esteban Rojas.
20. Dario Segovia, 48, has been a miner all his life and first went underground with his father at age 8.
21. Yonni Barrios, 50, a longtime miner known as Dr. House by his colleagues in reference to a television character. Barrios cared for his diabetic mother as a child and served as the trapped men’s chief paramedic.
22. Samuel Avalos, 43. The married father of three was greeted by well-wishers and, like the other miners, moved to triage. Avalos was described as the group’s gas monitor, the one who took readings to send up to the surface. He had been a street vendor but went to work at the mine to earn more money.
23. Carlos Bugueno, 26, helped manage the supply packages sent down to the miners. Bugueno, a former security guard, had gone to work at the mine with his longtime friend, Pedro Cortez, who was still awaiting his turn to leave the mine.
24. José Henriquez, 54, who served as a sort of religious leader for the miners by leading a prayer group, has worked in mining for 33 years. He's married and has two daughters.
25. Renán Ávalos, 29, is the brother of Florencio Ávalos, the first man saved from the mine. He and his brother began working at the mine several months ago after leaving the grape harvesting business. Renan Ávalos was among the miners who helped handle supplies.
26. Claudio Acuna, 34,has worked in mining about 10 years. He’s married with a daughter and is the youngest of eight brothers.
27. Franklin Lobos, 53, was on Chile's soccer team that qualified for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He has two daughters.
28. Richard Villarroel, is a mechanic in his 20s who relatives described as a happy person and soon-to-be father. After stepping out of the rescue capsule Villarroel happily held up a Chilean flag and then hugged sometimes teary-eyed relatives, rescue workers and officials at the site.
29. Juan Carlos Aguilar, 49, is a father of two, has been mining for 19 years. He's a mechanic and supervisor.
30. Raul Bustos, 40, a hydraulics engineer who was charged with managing the water-supply system after the mine collapse. He's married with two children.
31. Pedro Cortez, 25, an electrician, is the childhood friend of Carlos Bugueno, who was the 23d man pulled from the mine. Cortez has a daughter.
32. Ariel Ticona helped set up an underground communications system. Ticona comes from a mining family. His wife gave birth to their daughter Esperanza (Hope) weeks after the mine collapsed.
33. Luis Urzua, 54, reached the surface as the last miner saved and was greeted by the cheers and applause of relatives, officials and rescuers. Urzua had organized rationing of food after the collapse and drew maps to help rescuers. He is married.
I recall story of rescue of a baby Faey in US and little girl in Indian State of Haryan, but this is unique in the sense 32 miners trapped 700 meter undergrpund for 68 days.
It is a unprecedented miracle really happening. Once upon atime such missions used to be fairytales it gives a real pleasure to see this becoming a reality. It is really a dramatic event and looks like a true movie.
Posted by: Dr S Deman | October 13, 2010 at 01:27 PM
Thank God for his MIRACLES
Posted by: Angelica Duran | October 13, 2010 at 01:02 PM
I'm touched of the story of Pablo Rojas, He worked as a miner so that his son could study medicine...like my dad did to us when he was still in the police service, even though he's already 57 years old he still continue so that we can finnish our medicine school.
Posted by: kev | October 13, 2010 at 12:39 PM
The best set of people i admire and respect most are soldiers of any country cos they lay there lives down for there country. Beside this are the true pastors or any
true man of GOd cos they intercede for people in the entire world before God to have mercy on the entire citizen of the world.
Aside these,the only people i respect again are these gentle men that all went to heaven in the cost of working and being trapped under the earth for two months, the whole world migth not be there to show how great you are, but individually in all closet we respect and praise your unchallenge courage in the belly of the earth to go in and come out untouched. Glory be to God for your lives, HE made you all, took you in there and brougth you all out. Thank God and weldone to you all, may the good lord keep you more alive to see more of his Glory Amen.
Posted by: samuel omoyajowo | October 13, 2010 at 11:05 AM