COPIAPO, Chile (Reuters) - Twenty of 33 trapped miners have been rescued from a gold and copper mine in Chile's northern Atacama desert in a painstaking operation still under way.
The latest miner to reach the surface was Dario Segovia, 48, who was caught in the August 5 cave-in because he volunteered for a double shift. His thirteen siblings have taken turns holding the family's two month vigil at the mine's entrance.
TOP DEVELOPMENTS
* The first rescued miners were hoisted to safety, cheering, punching the air and hugging their families after two months deep underground.
* The first miner to be freed, Florencio Avalos, was brought to the surface shortly after midnight. Avalos, a 31-year-old father of two, looked very healthy following a nearly 16-minute journey to safety.
ONGOING RESCUE OPERATION
* Rescuers, relatives and friends broke into jubilant cheers as the miners, one by one, emerged from the mine. Nervous wives, children, parents and friends waited on an arid, rocky hillside above the San Jose mine for the men to be evacuated.
* Trapped deep inside the earth for 69 days, Mario Sepulveda never lost his sense of humour, so when he was finally pulled to safety, he brought a souvenir with him -- a bag of rocks.
* The accident shone a spotlight on lax mining controls in the world's top copper producer, but also highlighted a mature industry that has the machinery and expertise to handle one of the world's most challenging rescues ever.
* The ordeal began with a cave-in on August 5 that trapped the miners about 2,050 feet (625 meters) underground in the mine near the northern Chilean city of Copiapo, 500 miles (800 km) north of Santiago.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
* "This is a miracle from God." -- Alberto Avalos, the first rescued miner's uncle.
* "I have been with God and I've been with the devil." -- Mario Sepulveda, the second miner to be pulled from the mine.
