It is finished! The Final Miner Has Now Reached the Surface

All chliean miners have been extracted well before sunrise on Thursday

Chilean President Pinera was present, cheering with mine officials, family and friends as the first miners emerged from the mine that could have been their tomb.

UPDATE - After 69 days, the last miner has reach the surface and the drama is now over at the San Jose Mine.Luis Urzua, the last miner to be extracted was welcomed back to cheers and shouts from almost 2000 people gathered near the rescue hole.

Speaking to Chilean President Sebatian Pinera, Urzua said, "We have done what the entire world was waiting for. The 70 days that we fought so hard were not in vain.

"We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing."

The president told the last rescued miner, "You are not the same, and the country is not the same after this. You were an inspiration. Go hug your wife and your daughter."

What officials had said might take 36 hours was accomplished in 22 hours with no major problems.

In the nearby town of Copiapo over 3000 people celebrated the return of all the miners without incident. People were running through the streets with flags while cars honked their horns. Shouts were heard throughout the town, "Long live Chile!"

Beginning around midnight Wednesday morning each miner was brought to the surface in a rescue capsule named "Phoenix," recognizing that these miners had truly risen from the ashes of their possible demise.

Earlier in the evening, the Associated Press spoke with Priscila Avalos, a sister of two of the trapped miners. "We have prayed to San Lorenzo, the patron saint of miners," she said, "and to many other saints so that my brothers Florencio and Renan would come out of the mine all right. It is as if they had been born again."

According to the Wall Street Journal, Mario Gomez, 63, and the older trapped miner dropped to his knees in gratitude after being taken from the capsule. He suffers from the lung disease silicosis. He was immediately given oxygen before being transported to the hospital for evaluation.

The event in Chile has brought about an international reaction. Letter poured in from children in classrooms around the world and the miners will hopefully be able to take advantage of the many opportunities promised to them, including a trip to England, all expenses paid, to watch Manchester United play football.

Harley Shaiken, a specialist on Latin America and labor at the University of California in Berkeley told the Journal, "Miners are working-class heroes in the best of times, but in the worst of times everyone can relate to taking a job where there are high risks but really no choice."

It will take a long time to unpack all the stories and see the ways in which this tragedy-turned-miracle has impacted people around the world.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - After 69 days deep in the earth, the largest of the Chilean miners at the San Jose mine, Florencio Avalos, climbed out of the rescue capsule just after midnight local time with the second miner following one hour later.

The second to be rescued, Mario Sepulveda told the Associated Press, "I think I had extraordinary luck. I was with God and with the devil. And I reached out for God."

As each miner is brought out of the mine, after greeting family and friends waiting at the top, they will be flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital for 48 hours of observation. Officials has estimated that it will take 36 hours to rescue all the miners, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Prior to Avalos' ascent to the surface, a rescue worker and a paramedic rode down in the capsule one-at-a-time to prepare the miners for the final event of their ordeal. Manuel Gonzalez, a rescue expert with the state copper company Codelco, made the trip first and arrived to the cheers of those trapped below. Then, Roberto Ros, a paramedic with the Chilean Navy's special forces was lowered. The entire event was captured by video for the workers above.

Among those remained closely involved in the rescue over the past sixty days, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera cheered along with the staff and workers when viewing the scene of the miners welcoming their rescuers.

At a news conference following the rescue of the first miner, President Pinera had a huge smile on his face as he stated, "This rescue operation has been so marvelous, so clean, so emotional that there was no reason not to allow the eyes of the world - which have been watching this operation so closely - to see it."

Trapped since August 5, it was seventeen days later when mining officials, family and friends learned that they were safe, confirmed by a note recovered through a narrow bore hole. They knew it was then going to be a matter of waiting while a rescue shaft was laboriously drilled through the half mile of rock separating the miners from the surface.

The 33 miners have already spent more time trapped beneath ground than anyone else on record.

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online and the CEO/Associate Publisher for the Northern Virginia Local Edition of Catholic Online (http://virginia.catholic.org). He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

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