Thirty-Three Miners Are Rescued in Chile

On 5 August 2010, a massive cave-in occurred at the San José copper and gold mine near Copiapó, in northern Chile's Atacama Desert. The collapse blocked access routes and left thirty-three men trapped approximately 700 meters underground and 5 kilometers from the mine entrance, while a single truck driver managed to escape. When the trapped workers sought an exit through the ventilation shafts, they found that emergency ladders required by safety regulations were missing. Cut off from the surface, the men gathered under shift supervisor Luis Urzúa in an underground shelter and began strictly rationing emergency provisions intended to last only a few days.

The disaster exposed longstanding safety issues in Chile's mining industry. Although copper production formed a cornerstone of the Chilean economy, smaller operations often operated with inadequate oversight; the regional mining agency had only three inspectors to supervise hundreds of regional sites. The San Esteban Mining Company, which operated the San José mine, had a checkered safety record, and the collapse raised pointed questions about why the mine had been allowed to keep operating. Rescuers attempting to enter the collapsed passages faced continuing ground movements, and an additional cave-in on 7 August halted efforts to reach the men through existing shafts.