Chilean Mine Collapse | The Breakthrough | 3

Against The Odds

Wondery

Cassie De Pecol, History, Society & Culture, Dolby, Mike Corey, Dolby Atmos, Atmos

4.7 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2021

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Two weeks after the collapse of the San Jose mine in Chile, 33 trapped miners find themselves starving to death, doubting they’ll ever be rescued. Then, a glimmer of hope: Rescue workers drilling above finally reach the miners through a small borehole. It’s big enough to send down emergency supplies, but not big enough to pull the miners out. Now the question becomes: How much longer will the 33 men have to endure life 2,000 feet below the surface?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to against the odds at free on Amazon music. Download the app today.
0:15.0	André Sugare pulls up the collar of his jacket against the chili desert air.
0:21.0	It's 2 a.m. at Operation San Lorenzo, the Chilean government's effort to rescue 33 miners
0:27.6	trapped by the collapse of the San Jose mine. Sugaret arrived here two weeks ago to lead the rescue effort.
0:34.6	Around him, flood lights beam onto 9 massive drills tunneling down into the earth, trying to reach the miners.
0:42.6	But so far, they've been digging in vain. They're no closer to finding the miners now than they were when they started.
0:50.6	He needs to check the drills progress one last time before he heads back to his hotel to sleep.
0:57.6	He approaches bore hole 10B dug out by the first drill to arrive on the site, the SRAM T685.
1:06.6	It's been clearing 800 feet per day, far quicker than the other drills.
1:12.6	But what it has in speed, it lacks inaccuracy. It's aiming for the ref-cuege, a small room 2,200 feet down, where the miners are likely to be sheltering.
1:24.6	But it's already missed this target twice. Sugaret hopes the third time will be the charm.
1:31.6	He approaches the back of the truck, the SRAM is mounted on.
1:35.6	Their drill operator Nelson Flores monitors the gauges to tell him how fast the drill bit is turning, how much resistance it's meeting, and whether it's on target.
1:46.6	Sugaret waves at him to power down so they can talk.
1:52.6	How are we looking? The diorite has us off course again boss. It's like the miners fighting us.
1:59.6	Sugaret curses. The San Jose mine is carved and a mountain made primarily of diorite, a rock twice as dense as granite.
2:09.6	It's been knocking all their drills off course, including the SRAM. Flores looks to Sugaret for guidance.
2:16.6	Want me to pull it back and start a fresh hole?
2:19.6	Sugaret waves his options. It's been 15 days since the collapse. Any miners still alive would be starving by now. Dehydrated and wasting away.
2:31.6	Every minute matters. They can't afford to start over.
2:36.6	No, keep going. We're running out of time.
2:40.6	The drill operator Nance, they both know it's a big gamble, but it's one they have to take.
	...

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