Copiapo, Chile: Some of the 33 miners who were rescued last week after 69 days trapped underground returned yesterday for a religious service at the northern Chilean mine that almost became their tomb.
The miners, their families and friends will attend a private ceremony in a tent at the mouth of the San Jose copper and gold mine from which they were hoisted to freedom on Wednesday in a flawless rescue operation watched live on television around the world.
Among the first of a dozen miners to arrive for the service was Juan Carlos Aguilar, who walked around the minehead holding the hand of his daughter and declining to speak to the press.
The miners were trapped for more than two months at 2,050 feet (625 metres) underground.
Camp Hope
The ceremony will be held in the area known as Camp Hope, where family members gathered to pray and await news about their husbands, sons and fathers.
"It's a very beautiful experience to be here and see where our families were," said Luis Urzua, the foreman of the miners and the last one to be pulled to safety.
Ending what many felt was a spiritual mission, families of the miners on Thursday packed up the tents they had lived in for the previous two months and prepared for life outside the intense fellowship that the camp provided.
They descended on the barren land around the San Jose mine after it collapsed on August 5, fearful that all the miners were dead but refusing to give up. Many of the relatives are deeply religious and some prayed almost around the clock.
A poll published yesterday by La Tercera newspaper said that 84 per cent of Chileans approved the handling of the mine crisis by President Sebastian Pinera, a billionaire businessman who took office in March.
The conservative leader visited the mine several times during the two months that the workers were trapped and personally oversaw the 23-hour rescue operation during which they were hoisted one by one to the surface.
His overall popularity was 62 per cent, according to La Tercera's poll conducted last week. Surveys taken before the rescue had placed Pinera's popularity in the 50s.
Basking in the glow of the successful rescue, Pinera took some rock from the mine on a European tour. He will meet Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace on Monday and hold talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron.
