Rescuers expand lifeline to trapped Chile miners - The Washington Post

The Washington Post, by Mauricio Cuevas, Copiapó, Chile, 23/08/2010, excerpt/extracto.-

Engineers reinforced a lifeline Monday to 33 miners entombed deep inside a Chilean gold and copper mine, preparing to keep them supplied with food, water, medicine and communications during the four months it may take to carve a tunnel wide enough to pull them out.

A team of doctors and psychiatric experts also arrived Monday at the remote mine, implementing a plan to maintain the miners' sanity as well.

"We need to urgently establish what psychological situation they are in. They need to understand what we know up here at the surface, that it will take many weeks for them to reach the light," Health Minister Jaime Manalich explained.

Engineers worked through the night to reinforce the six-inch (15 cm) -wide bore-hole that broke through to the miners' refuge on Sunday, more than 2,257 feet (688 meters) below the surface. Using a long hose, they coated the walls with a metallic gel to decrease the risk of more rock falls in the unstable mine and make it easier to pass material in capsules nicknamed "palomas," or doves.

The first capsules - which take about an hour to descend from the surface - will include water and food in the form of a high-energy glucose gel to miners who have almost certainly lost significant weight since they were trapped with limited food supplies on Aug. 5