An updated list of who's out of the Chilean mine after 69 long days
Rescued miners
1. Florencio Avalos Silva, 31, video operator for the underground miner communications. First up. For a short time, Avalos will be the most talked about man on the planet as he emerged first from the San Jose mine into the full glare of the media spotlight. It is no coincidence Avalos was chosen to be first. The athletic father-of-two was the second most senior miner trapped and he was considered the safest pair of hands if something went wrong with the rescue capsule. Avalos, who loves playing football with his two children, aged seven and 17, has a brother Renan - the doctor in the group due to his albeit limited medical experience - who will be one of the last miners to be pulled up.
2. Mario Sepulveda Espinace, 39, the "journalist" commentator who moderated the video broadcasts. Second one up. Mario Sepulveda, 40, was the second worker to be pulled safely from the mine. During their 10-week ordeal he has presented most of the videos recorded by the group. "I have been with God and with the devil," he said on being rescued. "I fought between the two. I seized the hand of God, it was the best hand. I always knew God would get us out of there." His joyous celebrations, which included handing out rocks to rescuers and officials, were an immediate hit around the world. Sepulveda's wife, Elvira Valdivia, says he is a natural leader. He was a union representative in another mine in the same company.
3. Juan Illanes Palma, 52, served in Chilean army. Third up.
4. Carlos Mamani Solis, 23, of Bolivia, the only non-Chilean trapped. Four up. Bolivian President Evo Morales is expected to fly in on Wednesday to personally escort him home.
5. Jimmy Sanchez Lagues, 19, the youngest. Five up
6. Osman Araya Araya, 30, experienced a nervous collapse underground. Six up
7. Jose Ojeda Vidal, 46. Seven up
8. Claudio Yanez Lagos, promised he will marry his partner of 25 years and mother of his children when he emerges. The pair have grandchildren.
9. Mario Gomez Heredia, 63, the oldest of the group who sent the first report to the surface that they were alive. The son of a miner, Gomez has worked in the industry since the age of 12. He expressed his love for his wife, to whom he has been married for 31 years, from the depths of the mine. "He's quiet and not someone to express his emotions," said his wife Liliana Ramirez, after receiving a letter from her husband. "I was surprised by his letter. He said he loves me. I've never received a letter like that from him - even when we were going out he wasn't romantic." The couple have four daughters.
10 . Alex Vega Salazar, 31, his father is an emergency doctor and changed his name in order to help in the rescue. Family members were not supposed to be part of the rescue team.
11. Jorge Galleguillos Orellana, 56, suffers high blood pressure and is one of the complicated medical cases.
12. Edison Pena Villarroel, 34, ran 10 kilometres every day in the underground mine shafts.
13. Carlos Barrios Contreras, 27
14. Victor Zamora Bugueno, 33, wrote poetry underground.
15. Victor Antonio Segovia Rojas, 48, the "writer," who kept a journal of the ordeal, is the 15th miner to be rescued.
16. Daniel Herrera, 27, was a truck driver and taxi driver. Herrera is single. His mother and sister have been waiting for him at Camp Hope.
17. Omar Reygada Rojas, 56, clutching a Bible, became the 17th man to return safely to the surface.
Reygadas fell to his knees, hoisting his Bible above his head, after stepping from the rescue capsule which brought him up from the depths of the mine which collapsed on August 5.
He helped organise life below ground and reportedly survived other collapses in the mine. A widower, he has six children, 14 grandchildren and and four great-grandchildren, including one born while he was trapped.
18. Esteban Rojas, 44, sent a letter to his wife of 25 years asking her to renew their marriage vows, when he got trapped.
19. Pablo Rojas, 45, one of three cousins among the 33 men, is the 19th miner to be rescued.
20. Dario Segovia, 48, is a lifelong miner whose father first took him underground at age 8. Twice married, he had three children from each marriage. He had worked at the mine for three months, drilling holes for dynamite. He has 12 brothers and sisters.
21. Yonni Barrios Rojas, 50, played nurse to his comrades in the mine. He emerged from the mine to the welcome of his mistress, but not his wife.
22. Samuel Avalos, 43, becomes the 22nd miner to reach the surface, almost 18 hours after the rescue operation began. He is married with three children, had been working as a street vendor and got a job at the mine for more money.
23. Carlos Bugueno, 26, found himself trapped alongside a childhood friend, Pedro Cortez. A passionate soccer fan, he asked to have game broadcasts piped below. Relatives said the former security guard went to work at the mine to earn money for a car and house.
24. Jose Henriquez was the 24th miner to be rescued.The number 33 is his fate: married for 33 years, working at the mine for 33 years, and one of the 33 trapped men. He formed and led a prayer group while trapped and had friends send 33 small Bibles down the tiny supply hole. Chilean reports say that in January he helped save several miners who had passed out in the mine, apparently due to gas, and had to be rescued himself when he was overcome returning for another miner. Married with twin daughters, he has spent 33 years in the mines and survived a landslide on the surface in 1986.
25. Renan Valos, 29 has now surfaced. He is the brother of Florencio Avalos.
26. Claudio Acuna, 34 arrives safely. He moved up his planned wedding and is now eager to marry his girlfriend as soon as possible. He is the youngest of eight brothers.
27. Franklin Lobos Ramirez, 53 welcomed by family. Lobos is a former professional soccer player in a Chilean league. He received one of two signed T-shirts sent to the mine by Barcelona and Spanish World Cup winning star David Villa, whose father and grandfather were both miners.
"There are many (former) footballers in mining," William Lobos, Franklin Lobos' nephew, told AFP. "Since they only work until they are 36 years old, the mining companies which own the teams offer them work."
Lobos did not fear working in the mine because his work was mainly transporting miners, so he spent less time in the darkness of the tunnels, his family said. "He has two daughters and they are both studying. He took on two jobs to earn more," said his nephew.
28. Richard Villarroel, 27, a mechanic, is out of the mine and hugged by family and friends.
29. Juan Carlos Aguilar Gaete, 49 is the 29th to be rescued. Aguilar was supervisor for one of the three shifts at the mine.
30. Raul Bustos Ibanez, 40, survived the Chilean earthquake earlier this year, which destroyed his job as a mechanic. Found new job at mine, where he thought he would find more peace.
31. Pedro Cortez, a 25-year-old acoustics expert , is out of the mine.
32. Ariel Ticona Yanez, 29, who became a father during the ordeal is rescued. His daughter was named Esperanza, for Hope.
33. Luis Urzua Iribarren, 54. He was the head of shift when the mine collapsed on August 5 and has acted as a leader during the long months since even though he had only been working at the mine for two months.
"We're well and waiting for you to rescue us," Urzua told Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in a first telephone conversation from the collapsed mine. He said the confinement was like "hell."
He described to the president how the mine caved in. "The hill came down at 1:40 in the afternoon. We were worried for our colleagues who were heading out with a full truck. Then the dustbowl came and in four or five hours we couldn't see what was going on, or what the situation was. Then we saw we were trapped by an enormous rock blocking the whole tunnel."
Urzua agreed to stay till the bitter end and be the last miner to be hoisted to freedom.
After 69 days underground, including two weeks during which they were feared dead, each of these 33 miners emerged to the cheers of exuberant Chileans and before the eyes of a transfixed globe.
