Chile mine owners beg forgiveness for miners’ plight [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Chile mine owners beg forgiveness for miners’ plight

31 August 2010 COPIAPO, Chile — The owners of a Chilean mine which collapsed early this month, trapping 33 men underground, asked forgiveness Tuesday for the accident, as a giant drill slowly bored through the earth to rescue the miners.

“The pain caused by this unwanted and unforeseen situation means we must ask forgiveness for the anguish being felt at this time,” Alejandro Bohn, co-chief of the mining group San Esteban, told a parliamentary mining committee looking into the drama.

“This is a terrible situation, and we hope that it will soon come to a happy end,” he added in televised remarks.
Rescuers say it will take three to four months for the 30-ton hydraulic drill to chew through the 700 meters (2,300 feet) of rock entombing the miners, who were trapped by a cave-in 26 days ago on August 5.

The machine, an Australian-made Strata 950, was excavating at a rate of 15 meters (50 feet) a day. It will first bore a 33-centimeter (13-inch) pilot hole, then make that twice as wide so the men can be pulled up through it, one by one.


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