Chile Mine Rescue: Moment world was waiting for

To loud cheers, the 31-year-old stepped out of a 13ft-tall rescue capsule and threw his arms around his sobbing seven-year-old son and wife.

He had just completed the most dangerous journey of his life – a risky ascent to ground level from half a mile

below Chile's northern Atacama desert.

More jubilation was to follow as, methodically, one by one, Mr Avalos's fellow miners were lifted to safety, to loved ones, to global media attention.

Before August 5, when the men became trapped by 700,000 tons of rock, Mr Avalos had been second in command of the 33-strong group.

He became a leader of men yesterday, chosen to ascend first because he was deemed to be the healthiest member of a team forced to survive on rations.

After embracing his family, he was hugged by Chilean president Sebastian Pinera, who played a leading role in the rescue operation.

The second miner emerged about an hour later. Mario Sepulveda Espina, 40, was in buoyant mood.

"I think I had extraordinary luck," he said. "I was with God and with the devil. And I reached out for God."

Shortly after 6am, the rescue capsule brought Juan Illanes to the surface. The 52-year-old married former soldier had kept order during the group's long incarceration.

Next came the only non-Chilean man among the trapped group, Carlos Mamani, who had only been working at the mine for five days before it collapsed.

Mr Mamani, 24, has been promised a house and a job by Evo Morales, president of his native Bolivia.

After the youngest miner, 19-year-old Jimmy Sanchez, emerged shortly after 8am, the rescue team paused to lubricate the spring-loaded wheels which ensured the capsule moved smoothly through the shaft. This enabled the team to rescue the miners more quickly, bringing them to safety at a rate of one every 40 minutes.

Osman Isidro Araya, a 30-year-old father of three, reached the surface at 9.34am, relieved to leave the mine he had planned to quit because of safety fears.

The seventh man rescued was 47-year-old widower Jose Ojeda.

More followed: Drill worker Claudio Yanez, 34; Mario Gomez, the oldest miner at 63; Alex Vega, 31; Jorge Galeguillos, 55; Edison Pena, 34; and Carlos Barrios, 27. Seventeen miners were back on the surface by 5pm as rescue efforts continued into the night.

HOLLYWOOD TIPPED TO COME CALLING

It has been a drama that has gripped the world and could soon be recreated on the silver screen.

The world is intensely curious to hear the miners' tale of survival and book and film deals are already pending, along with job offers.

Mario Sepulveda, who bounded from the shaft to hug his wife and hand out souvenir rocks to laughing rescuers, has already been tipped as a future TV personality. The rescue is odds-on to be made into a Hollywood blockbuster, according to Ladbrokes, with bookies making it just 1/2 that events at Cape Hope are turned into a big-screen hit and 3/1 that Antonio Banderas will star in the movie with Benicio Del Toro second favourite at 6/1.

Ladbrokes offer 10/1 a film will be called A Miner Miracle and 16/1 it will be titled The Miracle of San Jose.

Cameron and world rejoice at miners' rescue

DAVID CAMERON led congratulations from across the globe to Chile for its daring mission to rescue 33 men trapped for 69 days in a collapsed mine half a mile underground.

Speaking during Commons question time yesterday, the Prime Minister revealed his delight at the "glorious" television images of the trapped men being brought to the surface in the Atacama desert.

He also praised the Chilean president, Sebastian Pinera, who promised to share a cup of tea with Mr Cameron at Downing Street next week.

Mr Cameron said: "I'm sure everyone would like me to, on their behalf, send best wishes to the president and people of Chile as they celebrate the trapped miners coming to the surface and the glorious pictures we can see on our television screens."

Images of the rescued men, who had been stranded since the mine collapsed on August 5, were beamed all over the world and prompted mass celebrations in Chile.

After the first reached the surface, Mr Pinera said: "This rescue operation has been so marvellous, so clean, so emotional that there was no reason not to allow the eyes of the world – which have been watching this operation so closely – to see it."

Car horns sounded in the Chilean capital, Santiago, when motorists learned the rescue operation had begun successfully. In Copiapo, the regional capital nearest the mine and home to 24 of the miners, the mayor cancelled school so children and parents could watch the unfolding drama.

The Pope said he was praying for the rescue of all the miners.

During his weekly public audience in Rome, Benedict XVI said in Spanish that he "continues with hope to entrust to God's goodness" the fate of the men.

In Spain, the Chilean ordeal was watched daily by about 50 coal miners who in September staged a month-long underground protest over unpaid wages and subsidy demands.

One of the Spanish miners, Elias Saguillo, 45, said: "Mainly we are proud of how the Chilean miners endured. From the first day through to the end, they behaved like true miners."

The miners in Chile were helpless for the first 17 days of their incarceration. But a narrow bore hole broke through to their refuge on August 22, and they were able to pass out a note, scrawled in red ink, to tell authorities they were alive.

Officials warned the men they might not be brought to the surface until Christmas but rescuers finished reinforcing the top of the escape shaft on Monday.

Mr Saguillo said the 17 days in August, when the miners had no contact with rescuers and had no idea they were being searched for, would have been the hardest period to endure.

"Every possible fear must have gone through their heads," he said.

The rescue operation was warmly received in China, where 2,600 coal miners were killed last year by accidents and blasts.

The official Chinese news agency, Xinhua, carried an editorial which read: "The rescue reflects the shining moment of human nature."

The Chamber of Mines of South Africa, which has the deepest mines in the world, sent a message of congratulations.

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle called the rescue "a little modern miracle" while American businessman Clifford Aron said: "The Chileans have shown us what leadership and crisis management is all about. Lives were at stake and the whole machinery of government snapped into action."

Long recovery after ordeal

The miners will receive care for at least six months as they readjust to life at ground level, the Chilean government has promised.

Air force helicopters were on hand to transport them to a regional hospital in Copiapo, where two floors were prepared for their arrival.

But the miners' treatment began while they were still in their dungeon beneath the Atacama desert.

They took aspirin and wore compression socks to prevent blood clotting.

Psychiatrists have predicted a long recovery for the miners, warning their lives will be anything but normal after the ordeal.

Praise for operation that was 'good and lucky'

THE rescue procedure devised to lift the 33 miners to safety was methodical and fraught with danger.

Chilean navy engineers built three rescue capsules, but only one, called Phoenix, was used to bring the men to the surface.

Painted in the white, red and blue of the Chilean flag, it was sent down a 28-inch escape hole on a winch and pulley system.

Each miner was given an oxygen mask and sunglasses to protect their eyes from sudden exposure to the light.

A video camera watched over them for any signs of panic and claustrophobia, as any sudden movements would jeopardise the capsule's journey.

Before the operation got under way, rescue co-ordinator Andre Sougarett said the worst technical problem would be the possibility "a rock could fall" and jam the capsule in the shaft.

But Davitt McAteer, who led the US Mine Safety and Health Administration during Bill Clinton's presidency, said the mission could be thwarted by a host of difficulties.

"It's not an elevator shaft," he said. "It's got twists and turn and that can cause problems with the cable. We're talking about 2,000 feet and it's uncharted territory."

Mr McAteer said he gave "very high marks" to the Chilean rescue team for creating lowered expectations by saying that it might take until Christmas to rescue the men and then consistently delivering rescue preparations ahead of time.

"Second, they have had very few technical problems. Their drilling rigs have performed extremely well," he said.

"They've been lucky. You can be good and you can be lucky. And they've been good and lucky."