When the miners were found alive, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera didn't call it a divine miracle. He credited the workers themselves for staying organized and healthy. The shift chief, Luis Urzúa, was rationing food in the refuge, giving out a spoonful of tuna fish to each worker every two days. The men had organized their new home. Mining Minister Laurence Golborne said when he made phone contact with the mine, he expected screams for help. Instead, he introduced himself, and was stunned when the worker who answered the phone said, "let me pass you to my shift chief" as if he were calling during any other workday. A workday, at that point, that had lasted more than two weeks. The workers have kept themselves together underground, operating heavy machinery and detonating explosives to build the rescue area.
AP Photo/ Chile's Government Video
