Chilean miners to aid in their own rescue

The 33 trapped Chilean miners who have astonished the world with their discipline a half mile underground will have to aid their own escape - clearing thousands of tons of rock that will fall as the rescue hole is drilled, the engineer in charge of drilling said Sunday.

Meanwhile, a new video released Sunday showed the miners sending emotional greetings to their families and talking about how they are doing better since receiving food.

After drilling three small bore holes in recent weeks to create lines of communication with the miners and deliver basic food and medicine, Chile's state-owned Codelco mining company will begin boring a rescue hole Monday afternoon that will be wide enough to pull the men up through 2,300 feet of earth.

The first step will be to drill a "pilot hole" similar in size to the other three. Then much larger machine cutters will slowly grind through that hole, forcing crushed rock to fall down into the mine shaft area near the trapped men.

Failure to keep the bottom clear of debris could quickly plug the hole, delaying a rescue that officials say could take three to four months. In all, the trapped miners will have to clear between 3,000 and 4,000 tons of rock, work that will require crews of about a half-dozen men working in shifts 24 hours a day.

The men have basic clearing equipment, such as wheel barrows and industrial-sized battery-powered sweepers, said Andres Sougarret, Codelco's head engineer on the operation. The hole will likely end up several hundred yards from their living area in the mine's shelter, giving the men room to maneuver and store the rocks, he added. He declined to estimate how long the work would take, saying it would depend on how each step went.

Once drilling begins, the team will have to decide whether to fit the wider hole with metal casing, often used to seal a hole and prevent collapses in the walls.

From the moment the mine collapsed Aug. 5, the trapped men have had a central role in keeping themselves alive - getting to the safety chamber, rationing food and keeping order with extraordinary discipline.

Telephone wire was being snaked down one of the bore holes yesterday, and Golborne said within a few hours one representative from each family would be allowed to talk to one of the miners - the first verbal communication they would have.

In the video from the miners, most were upbeat, expressing gratitude to their families and the rescuers for the support they are receiving via handwritten notes.