Chile’s president sees miners rescued soon

SAN JOSE MINE, Chile – Chile’s president said Monday that his government is “very close” to pulling 33 trapped miners to safety and he hopes to be there in person to see the rescue before leaving on a trip to Europe.

It was Sebastian Pinera who told the miners after they were found alive Aug. 22 that they would be saved by Christmas, and his government has assembled a team of hundreds to support them while three simultaneous drilling operations pound escape shafts through a half-mile of rock.

The drilling has gone well enough to move up the date since then, but rescue leaders have been cautious: Only last week, they estimated a late-October pullout.

Now the president has changed the expected date again, to before his Oct. 15-22 trip.

“We are very close to rescuing them, and I hope to be able to rescue them before leaving for Europe,” he told a group of Chilean radio broadcasters Monday.

Told of Pinera’s statement, rescue chief Andre Sougarret said he understands how anxious everyone is to rescue the men, who on Monday completed 59 days underground since the Aug. 5 collapse of the mine.

“I understand the desire of everyone, me included, is to leave as soon as possible. Still, we can’t take any risks,” he said.

“As of now we don’t have anything new that would enable us to move up the date” from the second half of October, Souggaret said.