Rescue

Drill Breaks Through to Chilean Miners

Sixty-six days after mine collapsed.

Rescuers finally broke through to the 33 miners who’ve been trapped in Chilean mine for 66 days. Now the men can finally be brought to the surface, where their families have been waiting in a tent camp—some since the mine collapsed August 5. During the miners’ long stay underground, officials designed an exercise and activity plan, so the men could stay sane and skinny enough to travel up through the hole drilled to save them. “Plan B” was racing against two other drills to burrow down to the men, as the other drills stalled after drifting off course, reaching them 2,047 feet below the surface. Now scientists must decide whether it’s more dangerous to bring the men up through unreinforced rock or to try to shove a steel pipe through the winding tunnel.