Engineers are preparing to install a big drill to rescue 33 miners trapped for 19 days deep in a Chilean mine and will send down games to help them cope with a wait that could last until Christmas.
The rescue crews began sending hydration gel and medication through a narrow bore hole on Monday to keep the miners alive during the long rescue effort and set up an intercom.
To avoid hurting morale, officials have not yet told the miners how much longer they may be underground.
Engineers must now build a concrete platform and erect the drill, which will bore a shaft 700 metres straight down around 62cm in diameter, and plan to use a pulley to lower a cage to evacuate the miners one at a time. They hope to start drilling the escape shaft by the weekend.
The government has contacted Nasa for advice on how to keep the miners healthy with space mission-like rations and help them deal with the extended stay in a confined space. It has also turned to submarine experts in Chile's navy.
Ana Salazar (51) is sure her son can cope. "I know he may be down there for a long time, and it will be tough, but he can do it," she said. "We're a mining family, I'm a miner too, so he knows this won't be fast."
The government plans to send the miners card games and dominoes to help them pass the time, and will feed electricity down a small bore hole to run different types of lighting to mimic the sensation of night and day. It is already one of the longest periods trapped miners have survived underground.
Regional superintendent Ximena Matas said it would take a couple of days to assemble the drill. Rescue workers say it will take three to four months to dig the escape shaft.
The trapped miners' relatives have been living in plastic tents at the mine head in a makeshift settlement dubbed Camp Hope. The miners' relatives have sent letters down to the miners, tucked into emergency provisions. Mining Minister Laurence Golborne made the first intercom contact with the miners on Monday.
"We are well. We're waiting to be rescued," Luis Urzua, mine shift leader, told Golborne from below as the trapped miners applauded and sang Chile's national anthem.
Rescuers and family members were heartened by the remarkably good condition of the miners, whose first request was for toothbrushes. The men have stripped off their shirts to help cope with heat down in the mine.
Reuters