After miners successful rescue, focus shifts to safety

After 69 days and a cost as high as $20 million, 33 miners have finally been extracted from the bowels of the earth. To roaring applause, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera placed a metal cap on top of the rescue hole early Thursday morning -- and marked the end of a rescue operation that captivated the globe.

But in a way, the story is just beginning -- both for the miners, who now must live with their new status as folk heroes and the spotlight that comes with it, and the government, whose attention turns to protecting workers' safety.

"I hope this will never happen again," said shift foreman Luis Urzua, the last miner out of the gold and copper mine, as Pinera embraced him.

Rescue worker Manuel Gonzalez, the first human being to descend more than 2,000 feet in a custom-made capsule to reach the miners, was the last of six rescuers to ascend. He waved and bowed before an underground camera before climbing into the capsule for the last time.

Colleagues and onlookers cheered as Gonzalez surfaced, with one person quipping, "Did you leave everything in order down there? Are the beds made? You didn't turn off the light.

Video: Chile president: Filled with pride Video: Last miner: Proud to be Chilean Video: Last rescuer surfaces Video: Watch how the rescue unfolded

But the situation wasn't entirely light-hearted. He too urged the president to push for worker safety.

"I hope we have learned from it and that Chilean mining will be different," he told Pinera. "I hope that things will be done correctly .. especially dealing with small mining concerns - that things be done right.," Gonzalez told the president. "This is what I want."

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As worldwide exultation over the rescue begins to settle, more daunting tasks loom -- understanding why the mine collapsed on August 5, and making sure such an incident doesn't happen again.

Pinera said the mine should "never should have functioned as it was functioning; it had a long history of violations."

"I want to announce to the Chilean workers and the employers that we are going to make a new pact in which the life, dignity and protection of workers will be the focus of government concern," he said.

Representatives of the mine owner, the San Esteban Mining Co., have previously said they will cooperate fully with Chilean authorities and the Chilean Congress in their inquiries about what went wrong at the mine.

Pinera put the price of the rescue mission at $10 million to $20 million.

"Every peso was well spent," he said.

As drillers pierced through tons of earth to make an escape shaft for the men, the miners subsisted on food, medicine and supplies dropped to them through a 4-inch-wide tube.

ask, personally, is that you please not treat us like celebrities or journalists.

--Mario Sepulveda

Most of the miners "really are in good condition," said Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich. Some, he said, may be able to leave the hospital Thursday afternoon.

When they do, their lives will not be the same.

Mario Sepulveda, the second miner extracted, said he hoped to maintain a low-key profile.

"The only thing I ask, personally, is that you please not treat us like celebrities or journalists," he said. "I want to continue being treated like Mario Antonio Sepulveda Espinace, the worker, the miner. I love that, and I think that in some shape, way or form I want to continue working."

But that is unlikely.

The men -- ranging in age from 19 to 63 -- will feel the crush of media requests and offers from book publishers, movie and television producers.

They may also have to speak to lawyers about a lawsuit filed against their employer.

They will be inundated with the warm wishes of spectators and peppered with questions from strangers. The Chilean Mining Ministry has set up a website to collect greetings, and already there are many from Italy, China, the United States and a dozen other nations.

Carlos Mamani, the only non-Chilean trapped, has personally been promised help from his country's head of state: Bolivian President Evo Morales. He had only been working in the mine for five days before the collapse, and his father-in-law has told reporters that Mamani has decided to never work in a mine again.

A special invitation to visit Elvis Presley's Tennessee home awaited Edison Pena -- a die-hard Elvis fan who led his fellow trapped miners in sing-alongs to pass time while waiting for their rescue.

How the miners handle the attention could progress or hinder their recovery, experts said.

"It's a great problem for regular people, who are subjected to intense publicity and focus," said Leo Braudy, author of the book, "The Frenzy of Renown: Fame and Its History."

"They're lionized; and for some of them, it destroyed them," he said, referring to an incident in which a paramedic who rescued baby Jessica McClure from a Texas well took his life years later.

For now, experts say, the men should relish the joyful homecoming after their harrowing ordeal.

The rescue began Tuesday night. One by one, the miners ascended to freedom in a red, white and blue metal capsule.

The first to arrive was a beaming Florencio Avalos, who stepped out of the "Fenix-2" capsule, named for the mythical bird that rose from ashes.

The others followed.

Each time the capsule approached the earth's surface, its cargo was heralded by the wail of a siren and applause from relatives and rescuers assembled nearby. Family members who bit their lips as each man began his ascent, broke into smiles as they emerged.

The rejoicing was loud throughout Chile and the world.

Video: The psychology of a rescue Video: Lessons learned from Chile mine

In the capital, Santiago, hundreds wept and embraced as they watched the rescue on a flickering big screen TV set up in a square. Chants of "Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le!" rang from the windows of the hospital where the men were eventually taken.

Around the world, strangers sat glued to television sets.

As they arrived, some of the miners signaled a thumbs-up. Others waved Chilean flags. One led the crowd in a chant for Chile. Some dropped to their knees and prayed. Mostly, though, they embraced their families.

During the course of the day Wednesday, the pace of the rescues increased from one per hour to three, progress that was measured by the spinning of the metal wheel that let out and then shortened the cable attached to the capsule -- a makeshift elevator with only two stops.

The last to surface was Urzua, the 54-year-old shift boss, who insisted on going after all the others -- 22-and-a-half hours after the rescue began.

It was he who first established contact with the outside world on August 22, 17 days after the mine collapsed.

It was he who divided the cans of tuna that helped keep the men alive until they were discovered, and it was he who organized the 32 others into three work shifts and pored over diagrams that helped rescuers plan the men's escape.

"He was a shift boss who made us proud," Pinera told Chileans in a televised address. "I want to thank the families of the miners who maintained faith -- this faith that ended up moving mountains."

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(source:cnn.com)