San Jose mine, Chile; and Mexico City ,To cheers, chants and tears of joy, Florencio Avalos became the first of 33 trapped Chilean miners to escape his underground prison after a record time underground, as rescuers hauled him to the surface at 12:12 a.m. local time in a metal cage less than 22 inches across. By midday, authorities hope to have brought all of the miners out, ending what was supposed to be just a 10-hour shift digging for copper and gold.
It is the moment the world has awaited for more than two months, as the daily survival of 33 miners trapped underground – how they brush their teeth, what they eat, how they stay sane – has made almost non-stop, international news. And Mariela Gomez, aunt of Carlos Barrios, who was slated to come out 13th, couldn't help but become emotional.
"I'm crying all the same," Gomez said. After waiting 69 days – the first 17 of them "blind, anxious, I can't even put words to it" – she was laughing with tears on her cheeks. "I haven't been nervous in recent weeks but now, I am, a little," she said.
IN PICTURES: Chile mine rescue
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