Samuel Acuña Avalos, one of the 33 miners trapped in a copper and gold mine in Copiapó, Chile, is seen in this undated photo received by Reuters on August 24, 2010.

In a press report published Tuesday, August 24th 2010, one of the 33 miners trapped in a copper and gold mine in Copiapó, Chile, says he gives thanks to Jehovah, after being found alive with his co-workers.

 

The head of an investigative research committee, Alejandro García-Huidobro, reported, “I saw the messages of the miners, each writing a letter to his family, telling them that are all well.”

He continued: “I just spoke with Mrs. Ruth (Guzmán), wife of Samuel Avalos and I was fortunate and privileged to see his letter, first, that his health is very well, and second, that he thanks ‘Jehovah, my God Jehovah,’ he says they are all alive, ‘a hug, a greeting to all my family and do not worry, we’re going to get out and a special kiss to my Carolina,’ which is his little nine-year-old girl”, he said.

The miners appear to be organized and following the instructions of their team leader.  At the time they were found, they had been living on extremely small rations of food doled out amongst themselves every 48 hours.  Now, however, they are beginning to receive more nutritious food lowered through narrow plastic tubes called “palomas” (doves or pigeons).  The tubes are also being used to supply the workers with medical supplies as well as communications equipment.  As of this writing, it has not yet been possible to establish audio communication with the workers, but written notes have been passed back and forth through the tubing system.

Yahoo news reports, “the plan is now to dig a new shaft to enable the trapped miners to escape, which will take months. Rescue workers say it could take around 120 days to dig a new tunnel to reach them.”