SAN JOSE MINE, Chile — To hugs, cheers and tears, rescuers using a missile-like escape capsule began pulling 33 men one by one to fresh air and freedom at last early Wednesday, 69 days after they were trapped in a collapsed mine almost a half-mile underground.
Eight men were pulled out in the early hours of the operation in the Chilean desert — a drama in which the world was captivated by the miners' endurance and unity as officials meticulously prepared their rescue.
Like wives on the surface who had their hair and nails done for the occasion, the men looked groomed and clean-shaven.
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Rescued first was Florencio Avalos, 31, who wore a helmet and sunglasses to protect him from the glare of bright lights. He smiled broadly as he emerged and hugged his sobbing 7-year-old son, Bairon, and wife, then got a bearhug from Chilean President Sebastian Pinera shortly after midnight local time.
Video: Watch live video of rescue operation (on this page)
A second miner, Mario Sepulveda, 40, was pulled to the surface about an hour later — his shouts heard even before the capsule surfaced. After hugging his wife, Elvira, he jubilantly handed souvenir rocks from his underground prison to laughing rescuers.
"I'm so happy!" Sepulveda yelled, grinning, punching his fist in the air and hugging everyone in sight. Sepulveda later said he had spent the last 10 weeks "between God and the devil."
"They fought, God won," he added.
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A third Chilean miner, Juan Illanes, 52, followed after another hour. He called the trip to the surface a "cruise" and then jumped up and down as if to prove his strength.
The lone Bolivian, Carlos Mamani, 24, was pulled out fourth, and was expected to meet Bolivian President Evo Morales, the national television station TVN reported.
Mamani was greeted by his wife, Veronica, with a hug and kiss that knocked off her white hardhat as Chile's president and first lady held small Bolivian flags. Mamani also gestured with both forefingers at the Chilean flag on his T-shirt and shouted "Gracias, Chile!" before a round of backslapping with rescuers.
Jimmy Sanchez, 19, hugged his father after reaching the surface. He was the fifth worker to leave the mine.
Through the first four rescues, the operation held to a schedule announced earlier to get all the miners out in about 36 hours.
Workers carried out maintenance work on the capsule before sending it back down the shaft to collect the sixth miner, Osman Araya, 30. Mining Minister Laurence Golborne confirmed that it was a routine wheel substitution and that the operation was going well, NBC News reported.
Araya emerged and embraced his tearful wife, Angelica. The seventh miner, Jose Ojeda, who turned 47 on Monday, was rescued next and was met by his stepdaughter, Elisabeth. He made headlines for writing the message, "We are OK the 33 of us in the refuge."
The eighth miner, Claudio Yanez, 34, emerged just as dawn was breaking.
National crisis
When the last man surfaces, it promises to end a national crisis that began when 700,000 tons of rock collapsed Aug. 5, sealing the men in the lower reaches of the mine.
After the first capsule came out of the manhole-sized opening, Avalos emerged on the surface to breathe his first fresh air after a claustrophobic ascent of around 2,050 feet through thick rock as bystanders cheered, clapped and broke into a chant of "Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le!" — the country's name.
Avalos gave a thumbs-up as he was led to an ambulance and medical tests following his more than two months deep below the Chilean desert — the longest anyone has ever been trapped underground and survived.
Avalos, the 31-year-old second-in-command of the miners, was chosen to be first because he was in the best condition. He has been so shy that he volunteered to handle the camera rescuers sent down so he wouldn't have to appear on the videos that the miners sent up.
Pinera later explained they had not planned for Avalos' family to join rescuers at the opening of the shaft, but that little Bairon insisted on being there.
"I told Florencio that few times have I ever seen a son show so much love for his father," the president said.
"This won't be over until all 33 are out," he added. "Hopefully the spirit of these miners will remain forever with us. ... This country is capable of great things."
Minutes earlier, mine rescue expert Manuel Gonzalez of the state copper company Codelco grinned and made the sign of the cross as he was lowered to the trapped men — apparently without incident. He was followed by Roberto Rios, a paramedic with the Chilean navy's special forces, who helped prepare the miners for rescue.
"We made a promise to never surrender, and we kept it," Pinera said as he waited to greet the miners, whose endurance and unity captivated the world as Chile meticulously prepared their rescue.
The last miner out has been decided: Shift foreman Luis Urzua, whose leadership was credited for helping the men endure 17 days with no outside contact after the collapse. The men made 48 hours' worth of rations last before rescuers reached them with a narrow borehole to send down more food.
Janette Marin, sister-in-law of miner Dario Segovia, said the order of rescue didn't matter.
"This won't be a success unless they all get out," she said, echoing the solidarity that
(source:msnbc.msn.com)
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