Street Roots • February 13-19, 2015
News
Page 11
2,000 feet
below the
surface
BY JOHN BARKER
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
he San Jose copper mine in the
Atacama Desert of central Chile was
founded in 1889. It is a testament to
owner neglect The 121 years of mining
have left the mountain honeycombed. The
unusually high pay induces miners to travel
up to 36 hours to get to their seven-day
shift. Deep underground they endure the
sounds of the mountain “weeping” from
time to time, giving off a thunderous,
rumbling wail that almost always recedes,
except when it doesn’t and granite-like
diorite walls of the mountain’s tunnels start
collapsing.
On Aug. 5, 2010, a 770,000-ton slab of the
mountain collapsed, trapping 33 miners
more than 2,000 vertical feet down in the
mine. “Deep Down Dark” is the story of the
event, the lives of the miners while trapped
and the work of those who carried out the ,
rescue. The story is well-told by Pulitzer
Prize winner Hector Tobar of the Los
Angeles Times.
Call it claustrophobia, call it
speluncaphobia, whether it’s fear of small
spaces or fear of caves, “Deep Down Dark”
is not a book for those with these phobias
punctuated by vivid imaginations. In fact,
the narrative of this incredible event is most
enjoyable for those who know that the
rescue effort succeeded.
The mine owners’ neglect of basic safety
precautions meant not only were escape
routes unusable after the collapse, but the
emergency water supply was just 10 bottles
to go with an equally meager food supply.
The miners’ access to industrial water
stored in tanks and used to cool the
equipment was fortuitous. A bit of industrial
oil mixed in didn’t make it undrinkable. The
food was rationed down to a taste a day.
The story of the 69 days from collapse to
rescue moves smoothly between the
a
Deep Down Dark:
The Untold
Stories of 33 Men
Buried in a
Chilean Mine, and
the Miracle That
Set Them Free by
Hector Tobar
evolution of the miners’ group dynamics as
they are forced to strategize for survival,
their domestic lives (some including a wife
and girlfriend), as well as the efforts of
those on the surface to plan and execute a
rescue. In each domain, the author is
careful not to embellish with unnecessary
drama for its own sake; instead, he lets the
miners’ remmispences, the 'families’
worries, the rescuers’ efforts speak for ?
themselves.
Those with a bent toward engineering
will enjoy the description of the work of the
American driller called from Afghanistan,
where, he’s been drilling holes for water for
the troops. He’s the best candidate to
operate the Schramm T130, the drill
thought to have the best chance of reaching
the miners. He keeps one foot on the rig
while drilling because it’s a job that requires
“feel.” His is one of three drills at work to
reach the miners and the one that
eventually succeeds after 33 days of drilling.
He later says hitting the cavern where the
miners had sought refuge involved too much
luck.
As the drill breaks through, the trapped
now have reason to hope that their time in
the 100 degree-plus, high-humidity, fungus-
ridden tomb may well come to a happy
ending. But, it will take several days to test
the stability of the newly drilled shaft and
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the Fenix capsule that has been designed to
bring the miners to the surface before they
can begin the process of being lifted out one
by one. During this time, the mountain
makes sounds that tell another collapse is
more than a remote possibility. Another
event as Catastrophic could doom the
miners.
The miners emerge in the Fenix to the
bright lights of television, with its worldwide
audience of 1.2 billion, their families and
those who have saved their lives.
Tobar then moves on with the miners as
their lives evolve after the rescue. Their
solemn pact that none of them will relate
details of what happened underground is
fragile, but largely honored. The miners
entrusted Tobar with this project. He had
unfettered access to the miners, a
psychiatrist who counseled them as contact
was established apd rescue approached,
Chilean ministry officials for whom he has
more praise than one would expect
government officials to deserve, the families
of the miners, rescuers, and a wealth of
documents.
All 33 miners survived. Not all flourished.
Tobar’s very human presentation of that
part of the story is as compelling as what
precedes it. In all, it’s a story well-told of an
event that pushed the participants to the
limits.
Tte
, R E U T E R S /M U G O
IN F A N T E
Trapped m iner
Esteban Rojas hugs
his wife as he prays
after reaching the
surface to become
the 18th person to
be rescued from the
S a n Jose m ine in
Copiapo on Oct. 13,
2010.
m an works.
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