The Unbelievable Chile Mine Rescue

Trapped nearly half a mile underground, 33 Chilean miners faced impossible odds, but their dramatic rescue became one of the most astonishing survival stories in modern history.

Images via Getty, Reuters
Map source by MapTiler / OpenStreetMap Contributors via Geolayers 3

Illustrations by Burak Ata

[RisingRevengeance]

You know the supervisor is good when he essentially resigns and everyone still considers him the boss. I sure haven't worked under anyone like that.

[ningunoningunos]

27:30
So the supervisor is the LAST guy to be rescued? THAT'S a leader.

[feuby]

No charges on the owner is seriously saddening. No ladders on ventilation shafts if kinda ridiculous, but the amount of survival food is just criminal.

[eugenekrabs]

this was on the news 24/7 in chile. Words cannot describe how insane of an event this was and how much it brought the country together. i remember the moment they reported that they drilled to the miners and the first videos they took of them with the celebrations after. they even sent down equipment to watch the chilean national team play with the broadcast of the game having a live miner cam. insane times

[PixelOnScreen]

I remember seeing the note of "the 33 of us are safe" and feeling hopeful for my uncle. From then on I knew they would come out safely and I'm thankful for the engineers

[NoHandleToSpeakOf]

No charges against mine owners who did not installed the required ladder in the ventilation shaft is the best part.

[afeeshie]

I remember going to school one morning and the reporter on the radio kept announcing rescue after rescue. It truly had a grip on all of us.

[aIexjI]

Imagine being trapped underground for 69 days and coming out to find out the world was watching your every move. Absolute resilience. These men didn’t just survive—they made history. Respect. 🙌

[Labrador]

10:08 this is insanely smart, having a good circadian rhythm is extremely important for mental health and ability simulating that using flashlight was a great idea and many of the men may have gone insane without it.

[trxvito]

The shift supervisor “handing over the shift” to the Chilean president is possibly the most chad thing I’ve ever heard. It’s equivalent to standing relieved, that your job is done and you can rest easy knowing you’ve done all you can.. and for him? That job was to get all of his miners out alive

[hgbugalou]

As far as I am concerned, any man doing a blue collar job like this and that survives an ordeal of this magnitude is perfectly OK in touring the world and racking up money for the rest of their lives. I don't think people understand how mentally torturing something like this would be.

[neptunite]

It's also a story of negligence from the mining company, not having sufficient supplies, expired food + medicine and no ladders in the ventilation shaft!!!

[HirokaAkita]

And it wasn't a huge story only on Chile.

Here, in Mexico, media had AT ALL TIMES something, even a small live feed on every single program, about the mining rescue ever from the moment the rescue was announced until the very end.
Mexico was always informed about that, and when the first miner was extracted, all programs were suddenly stoped and switched to the rescue's live feed.

[sicosfera]

I am a Chilean girl and two years ago I entered a substance and alcohol rehabilitation program. There I met one of the 33 miners. After being rescued, he fell into alcoholism and spent years in and out of rehabilitation. I understand that the vast majority of your colleagues also had substance and alcohol abuse problems. Luckily the last time I saw him he was completely rehabilitated and had not drunk for a year. He looked in great spirits. thanks for reading 🙏🏻🙏🏻. (I'm using Google Translate, so this text may not be entirely well written).

[cristobalvillarroel]

I am chilean and two minutes into the video and your telling me more information about the colapse that i´ve ever encountered in national tv, great work!!!

Also we are the best country of Chile

[pognoob]

Neo and fern have insane animations and have improved so much! Both channels are better than Netflix.

[danielhalcartegaray]

Couldn't help shedding tear while watching this. I remember watching the news everyday hoping they would be found. I was on the subway where there's TVs with the news when they had proof they were alive and I just started crying there, strangers hugging and singing the national anthem spontaneously in happiness. One of the most emotional times in our national history. Thank you for this

[Ryu-hxyy]

I am so glad you told us what happened after the rescue. Its not uncommon to just end it there, so having the extra bit is very intresting.

[JestemGlonojadem]

This story was quite big in Poland as it was unfolding, I remember watching the final rescue on TV. It was nice to be able to hear it again in its entirety, thank you for covering it so professionally. I wish all the best to the miners and their families!

[El_Huas_Gamer]

Fun fact: Raul Bustos was a mechanic who worked on the south. The earthquake and tsunami that attacked Chile in early 2010 forced him to look out for a job, and he ended up working and getting trapped in this mine. Later on, the Phoenix capsules were constructed on the same place he used to work on the south.