Chilean miners who survived 18 days after a cave-in received hydration gel and medication through a narrow drill hole yesterday, but officials said it could be months before the men are freed.
In what relatives called a miracle, the 33 miners on Sunday tied a note to a perforation drill that had bored a shaft the circumference of a grapefruit to where they are located, 700 metres vertically underground.
Mining minister Laurence Golborne said rescue workers began sending plastic tubes called "doves" containing glucose solutions, hydration gels and medicine down to the miners to keep them alive while they dig a new shaft to extract them. That could take up to four months.
The miners have not been told how long it will take, but they may only emerge from the mine at Christmas.
"We are well. We're waiting to be rescued," Luis Urzua, shift leader at the mine, told Mr Golborne by radio link as the trapped miners applauded, cheered and sang Chile's national anthem.
Mr Golborne said the miners were in remarkably good condition and spirits despite their ordeal. It is one of the longest periods that trapped miners have survived underground.
"The wait is very different now," said Elias Barros (57), whose brother is among those trapped. "It is a wait free of anguish. This isn't over, but we are much more hopeful it will end happily."
Relatives wrote letters to send down the shaft to the miners to help boost morale during the long wait ahead. Mr Golborne said relatives had joked he should send cold beer down the drill hole.
Andre Sougarret, manager of state copper giant Codelco's El Teniente mine, who is heading up the drilling effort, said engineers would drill two other shafts. One would be to ensure ventilation and communication in the coming months and another, wider one to bring the miners to surface using a pulley.
Engineers are transporting a more powerful drill from another mine and must decide where to bore the larger hole without risking further cave-ins at the unstable mine. Mr Sougarret said it would take three to four months to drill the extraction hole.
The miners are 7km inside the winding mine. They sheltered in a sparse 50 sq m refuge, an area the size of a small apartment, which contains two long wooden benches. They have now moved out into a tunnel because of ventilation problems, Mr Sougarret said.
Reuters