Chilean Mine Collapse | The Mountain Weeps | 1

Against The Odds

Wondery

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

4.7 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 October 2021

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 2010, the San Jose copper mine in Chile suffers a catastrophic collapse, leaving 33 miners trapped over 2,000 feet underground. As they desperately search for a way out, a massive rescue effort begins on the surface. But with the trapped miners running out of food and succumbing to despair, it’s a race against the clock to reach them and get them out.

This is the story of how mining experts, rescue specialists, Chilean politicians, and even NASA team up to reunite “Los Treinta y Tres” -- the 33 -- with their families aboveground.

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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.
0:16.9	It's Thursday, August 5,
0:19.8	2010 in the Atacama Desert near Copiapo, Chile.
0:23.4	Luis Urzúa walks through the deepest sections of a cavernous copper mine making his rounds.
0:30.0	He's the shift supervisor, a burly but soft spoken 54-year-old with a round face and dark hair.
0:37.3	It's his job to keep track of where every man is in the mine at all times and to make sure everything is running smoothly and on schedule.
0:46.3	His white helmet sticks to his damp hair. Here in the tunnels, deep beneath the desert mountain,
0:52.9	it's 98 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity is a swampy 95%.
0:59.9	As he trudges down the spiraling ramp of the mine's main passageway, he hears an ominous groan.
1:06.9	The sound of rocks shifting and crumbling in a distant corner of the mine.
1:11.9	The miners here have a name for the haunting sound, which they hear often.
1:16.9	They say it's the sound of the mountain, weeping.
1:20.9	Urzúa stops and listens carefully. The mine is over 120 years old and all those years of extracting copper, gold and other precious metals have made the mountain unstable.
1:34.9	He knows that every time the mountain weeps, it could be a warning of an impending collapse.
1:40.9	And as supervisor, Urzúa is responsible for the lives of every miner on his shift.
1:46.9	Mining is extremely dangerous work. In the deepest parts, rocks don't just fall. Sometimes they explode.
1:56.9	Every year, dozens of miners lose fingers, break bones.
2:01.9	Two years ago, an explosion killed a geologist, so Urzúa pays close attention whenever something doesn't sound right.
2:09.9	If it doesn't stop, he'll need to order an evacuation, something he doesn't want to do.
2:15.9	He's only worked at the San Jose mine for three months, not long enough to earn the trust of his employers.
2:21.9	An evacuation and shutdown can cost the mining company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
2:27.9	If he gave the order and it turned out to be a false alarm, he could be fired.
	...

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