CNN breaking news is airing the rescue of Chilean miners live, as officials made a capsule descend in a test run. The first of the 33 trapped miners is to be Florencio Avalos followed by Mario Sepulveda, Juan Illanes, Carlos Mamani, and Jimmy Sanchez. The last man out will be Luis Urzua , after Pedro Cortez and Ariel Ticona are winched out from their ordeal.

Shift leader Luis Urzua has scripted a heroic survival story of gritty endurance, that has gripped nor just Chile but the whole wide world. He is being hailed for the leadership which had 33 miners survive two agonizing months trapped underground, the first 17 days of which they made do without food or water.

Rescue efforts that began on 17 September with the drilling of a rescue shaft almost 240 stories deep, are now reaching fever pitch. After the an empty “Phoenix” capsule was sent down in a test run, a technical expert descended to access the stability of the 624m shaft, through which essential supplies have been sent down, and “hell souvenir” memorabilia and letters have emerged from the miners end.
Laurence Golborne, the Chilean Mining Minister is overseeing the efforts, while the Chilean Prez hopes that what began as an impending doom will finish as a celebration of the human spitit.

Some critics said that the rescue was turning into a media circus, with newsmen cashing in on the heart-stopping wait of the family of the 33 miners. It is being fervently hoped that all of the miners emerge from the ordeal unscathed.

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