After being trapped for 7 days, 9 Peru miners see the light

12 April,2012 09:06 AM IST |   |  Agencies

Nine Peruvian miners trapped underground for nearly a week by a rockfall have been rescued. They were met by relatives and President Ollanta Humala after emerging from the Cabeza de Negro mine in southern Peru yesterday morning.


The miners are reported to be in good health. They were wearing dark glasses to protect their eyes from daylight. On Sunday, officials said the rescue operation at the small copper mine had been delayed by fresh rock collapses.

Eyewitnesses quoted said they left the mine one by one wearing blankets. One had difficulty walking and was wearing an oxygen mask. "We told each other jokes to keep up our hopes and ran from one place to another to keep warm," said one of the rescued miners, Edwin Bellido Sarmiento.

"There was a point when we thought we wouldn't get out," said another miner, Javier Tapia Lopez. "All of them are healthy but obviously dehydrated and dizzy," President Humala said. "They still need to get used to the sun, that's why they are wearing sunglasses."

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