33 Chilean Miners

Have you ever heard of an accident that happened in Chile some years ago? In 2010, there was big news about the rescue of 33 miners who were trapped in a mine. Many people and rescue teams came to Chile to save them.

On August 6th, 2010, there was a huge earthquake in Copiapo. It was a disaster for people in the city, and it even damaged the copper mines. 33 miners in one of the mines moved to the evacuation zone. The earthquake went on for minutes, and it trapped the group 700 meters below the ground. They were confused about the situation, but they had a bigger problem—they didn’t have a lot of provisions. What they had were two bottles of spoiled milk, moldy bread, and dirty water that smelled like diesel fuel. There was the danger of getting even sicker or hurt if they ate these things. To prevent this, the miners boiled the water by using the truck engine.

Even though the miners were already in a crisis, the high heat around 32 degrees Celsius made the situation worse. An interview of one miner shows how desperate he was. The man even said he had seen a devil when he was stuck inside the mine. This shows that the accident affected the miners both physically and psychologically.

After 17 days, people eventually found out that 33 miners were trapped in the mine. The miners sent a note to the surface that read “we are well in the shelter”, and they waited for the rescue. The accident became big news, and many countries and people tried to help save them. They gave the miners what they needed to survive such as food or medicine. NASA even used a thin tube to support them with food. Finally, after being trapped for 69 days, a miracle happened. They were rescued from this terrible disaster by an American rescue team.

This accident that happened in the Chilean mine was such an unfortunate event. The miners were trapped 700 meters below ground for 69 days with small provisions of things needed for survival. I think this accident gave lessons to the miners and to the people who heard this news. Even in this hopeless situation, the miners were able to survive and be rescued because they never gave up. I think this is the moral that we can all learn from this event.