Rescue day forChilean miners'very close'

It was Sebastian Pinera who told the miners after they were found alive on August 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 bring forward the date since then, but rescue leaders have been cautious. Only last week, they estimated a date in late October.

Now the president has changed the expected date again, to before his October 15 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.