Trapped Chile miner writes poem on his experience

SANTIAGO - Victor Zamorano, one of 33 miners trapped 700 metres underground in northern Chile, sent a poem Friday to officials working to rescue him.

In the poem he describes his experience of being trapped in the copper mine since Aug 5. Zamorano narrates his frustration of waiting for rescue teams to locate them. The group was isolated for 17 days.

“It’s been three weeks and the sound does not stop; but one tunnel is too long, and the other stops half-way,” the poem, read by Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich, says.

The chief of the rescue teams, Andre Sougarret, said they were waiting for an oil drilling machine loaned by the National Oil Company (ENAP), since this could dig the tunnel faster and reach the miners within one-and-a-half months.

With the equipment that has been used so far, Chilean authorities expected to take three to four months to get the miners up to the surface.

The workers are being sent food, water and other essentials through small holes, which ensures their survival until a larger tunnel is built to pull them up.