01x01 - Episode 1

[bunniefuu]

-In this remote desert
moonscape of northern Chile,

media on a scale rarely seen.

Tonight, everything
is in place for what

may be the most challenging
rescue ever attempted on Earth.

-I called the
most-reputed expert and

he told me,
"Forget it, they're all dead."

-All of us at the
mine site lived and breathed

the tension
every hour of the day.

[reporter] The plight of
these miners has captured the

attention and the
hearts of the entire world.

[reporter] 33 miners trapped
a half mile underground in

a gold mine in Chile.

[reporter] There are
33 men buried alive.

[reporter] No one has ever been
trapped so long and survived.

[astronaut] From outer space,

and best wishes
to all the miners in Chile.

-It's been two days!

-We had no good news.
We only have failures.

-We had a major breakdown.

We were gonna be cancelled.

I felt heartbroken.

[reporter] Chile is
consulting with NASA about how

to keep people alive and sane.

-They were living
the same day, every day,

without knowing
if it's day or night

-You knew there was


feet that needed you to be
doing what you were doing.

They were living in hell.

-Even the smallest infection
could be a death sentence.

[miner] Greetings Lila,

I love you

and all my family too

-The weight on our shoulders.

It was so stressful.
I mean, it was terrible.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

-This was the most
challenging rescue,

really in history.

[reporter] We're watching
something that really hasn't

been seen since
the Apollo Mission.

[♪ dramatic music playing]

-I was responsible
for reporting on the events

across Central America,
South America for ABC News.

I had reported
from Chile before.

And it is one of the
most spectacularly beautiful

places on Earth.

In 2010 I reported on this
story in the Atacama Desert.

The mining industry is the
backbone of Chile's economy.

It's a really
modern mining country,

and has incredibly
sophisticated mines.

But the San Jose mine
was not at all like that.

This was
an antique,

badly-run mine,
known for its safety problems.

You didn't go there
because you were, you know,

at the top of your game.

You went there
because you needed a job.

[Mario] I've always
worked in all sorts of jobs

I've even been a singer.

Well not a very successful one
because I'm a terrible singer

But

I would do anything to put
food on the table

and make sure my children
got an education

The San José mine
was far from home

I had to leave Santiago at 7pm

to get there at 5:30
or 6 in the morning,

But they paid really well

It's the sacrifice
you make for your family

It was tough but
it was really worth it.

-Every girl needs her father.

It was really
difficult to understand

why he left all the time.

I always used to
say to my mother,

why are the other fathers,
uh, didn't do that?

Like, they don't do that,
like, they have normal jobs.

The mine that my father was
working is really dangerous,

and he was
always worried because he knew

that one day
something will happen.

[Mario] I could see that
the conditions weren't what I'd

been taught to expect

We'd already raised
it a couple of times,

asking management to take action

having some
professionals come and inspect

the areas we mentioned

They ignored us,
they didn't listen to us

On this day,
August 5th 2010

it was one of
those days where

there's something kind of

spiritual, magical, that tells
you, "Hey, no, no, no

don't go down there
because something is going

to happen to you"

I start working,

I've been at it
for about half an hour

and I started hearing
strange noises

I ask myself,
what is going on?

-The mine started
creaking and making sounds.

Then suddenly

something like that, and
then the air went like this

-A shockwave hit
me and threw me in to the wall.

My head went all fuzzy and I
didn't know what I was doing

And that's when I thought

that I was already dead.

-I received a text message
on my phone that says,

"There is an accident
on San José mine.

There are people trapped."

My first thought was,
well, get them out.

I was in Ecuador
with President Pinera,

I didn't know where
Minas San Jose was.

I didn't know about the mine.

But it sounded
like a severe accident.

So, President Pinera told
me that I have to go to the

mine to supervise the situation.

I was told that rescue teams
have organized themselves and

they wanted to go inside
the mine to try to rescue them.

-I was nine years old

when I participated
in my first mine rescue.

At around 7:30pm,
the phone rings

"There has been a massive
accident at the San José mine"

When we arrived,
it was chaos.

We were all full of adrenaline.

I was one of the rescuers

chosen to enter the mine.

Did the collapse reach them?

Are they dead?

When we started
driving down the ramp,

we could see that minerals
had been extracted

from the support
pillars of the mine.

These pillars collapsed
due to pressure from the roof.

It caused the
whole mine to collapse,

and it took out
the road and tunnel.

It took everything down with it.

If we're able to
reach the miners

we would have to winch them up

one by one.

The only route available was
through the ventilation shaft

We started
rappelling down the shaft

-There goes the rope!

-We went down, down, down,

and surprise

it was blocked.

Suddenly the whole
mine started shaking

It was moving like this

This is very serious man

I give the signal on the
radio to bring us back up

[rescuer] One, two, three

[Pedro] We had to get out.

[rescuer] Let's go,
let's go.

[Pedro] The left wall is
completely cracked

The ventilation shaft is
completely gone

level 268 doesn't exist.

Everything we had planned

was assuming we would be
able to make it down there.

We need to find
another alternative,

but here it's over.

I was broken.

The chances of
finding the miners was

practically non-existent.

[Mario] I felt like
I was in another dimension.

Visibility was almost
zero with all the dust.

You look one way, collapsed.

You look the
other way, collapsed.

All the ways out

blocked.

[Alex] One of
the younger guys says,

"They're not going to find us.

The same thing that happened to
some miners in Mexico is going

to happen to us"

I say "I've never heard the
story of the miners in Mexico

what happened to them?"

He said, "A mine collapsed over
there and there were

many miners inside,

and they did
nothing to get them out.

They just put a gravestone
at the entrance of the mine.

Here lie so many people"

[♪ somber music playing]

-The situation that I saw when I
arrived there was very hectic.

There was nobody
really in charge, and

the families were angry.

I had been
Minister of Mining only

six months, and really,

I didn't have
expertise in mining.

I remember, I called
one of the most-reputed

expert in the
mining sector in Chile.

I say, "Well
what's your opinion?"

and he told me,

"Forget it, they are all dead."

-I heard there had been
a terrible accident

and my brother
was working in there.

The minister came over
and told us that there was

no hope for the 33

And I told him,
"No, they are alive.

they are alive and
we have to have hope"

-We don't know what's
happening down there Minister,

the whole
structure could collapse

The tunnels could
collapse one by one

We need to move quickly,
to make it in time.

[Laurence] That's what
we're working on.

Stay strong.

[Laurence] There were more
or less 200, 300 people outside

the mine, camping,
asking for information.

And I said,

"I will share with you anything
that I can find out,

anything that I can learn."

I had a meeting with
the rescue teams, and I ask,

"Well, what's going on?
What happened?

What we should do?"

And I remember one
rescuer that told me,

"Ministry, if you ask me
to go down again,

I will do it, but um,
Minister, we are,

we are [bleep] really."

That's word that they used.

[Pedro] Laurence,

you could see the
expression on his face,

because he
knew what was coming

He had to go and
face the families.

[overlapping Spanish chatter]

[Laurence] In the afternoon,

I dry my tears and I
go down into the camp.

[reporter] Minister,
how is the work going?

-We will speak
to the families first

then to the press.

-I took a chair and I stand up
and I take a microphone

from a, an ambulance.

I start explaining
what had happened.

[Laurence] There were
new movements in the shaft

they were descending through

which caused another collapse

causing further collapse

completely blocking access
to the mine.

We're working
with technical teams

trying to find alternative ways

to solve this

We will keep you
informed of any updates.

[Laurence] I couldn't
continue speaking.

I felt a knot in my throat.

We couldn't continue
with this rescue effort.

It was too dangerous.

We decided to stop.

[miner]
It's not very clear.

Shine a light on it, let's see.

[Mario] And
from that point on

we organize ourselves

First, let's see
what food we have

We all went to
the refuge shelter

-In the refuge
we had a wooden box

with some food inside
for emergencies

Tins of tuna

Biscuits

Bottles of juice

Cartons of milk

And what was in there was enough
for ten people for three days.

And there were 33 of us.

[Dario] Sepúlveda
said it had to be rationed

every 24 hours,

But luckily we had water

water from the drilling tanks.

[Omar] It was sludge on
the surface and mud underneath,

mixed with gasoline,
grease and expl*sives.

[Mario] We filtered
the water

with t-shirts and socks

Because we knew
it was contaminated.

[Ariel] In a
moment like that,

you have to decide if
it's going to harm you

or not

You choose to take the
risk because without water,

it's difficult to survive.

[priest] Ask the Lord
for that strength

that only He knows how to give
in the most difficult moments.

The Lord does
not abandon us.

-When we arrived
to the mine in San Jose,

there were a lot of feelings.

They told us they will not
continue to try to rescue them.

I feel like my whole world,
uh, just fall down.

-At this rate,
we're practically going to bury

people alive in the mountain.

{\an8}Because look, right
now they should be working

but they are
doing nothing, nothing!

[Laurence] The situation
was peaceful,

but it was
becoming heated.

- It's been two days!

[Laurence] We didn't
have the resources,

and we couldn't continue
because it was too dangerous

for the rescuers.

The responsibility
for the rescue,

especially with
a mining company,

is the company itself.

It's not a
governmental responsibility.

So, we had to stop
because they couldn't do it.

So, I was surprised when
President Pinera called me and

said that he
will go to the mine.

[Laurence] The
President arrived.

{\an8}I go to pick him up.

{\an8}We went to the mine.

{\an8}He met the families,

{\an8}and he could see that,
politically speaking,

this was a tricky situation
for the government.

That is the moment
where everything changed.

[Pinera] Earlier today
I was in Colombia,

but I decided to interrupt my
trip and speak to you directly

and look into your eyes.

I want you to know

we aren't going
to leave you alone.

You will have full
support from the government

because this is a situation
that is making a lot

of people suffer

[Laurence] He said, we will do
everything that is in our power

to find them.

Not to rescue, he
didn't promise to rescue because

we didn't know if there were
anybody to be rescued.

But he committed
that the government will be

involved looking for the guys.

Five month earlier, there
had been a massive earthquake

in Chile and many
people have died.

The government response was
heavily criticized and

he wanted this to
be totally different.

I was nominated in charge.

So, if things goes wrong,
probably I will be prosecuted.

The president told me that we
can get whatever we need.

I start asking myself,
"Who else can help me in this?"

And so, I called Codelco,

the biggest mining
company in Chile.

André Sougarret is an
engineer that had a lot of

{\an8}experience in
underground mining.

{\an8}He arrived
there with René Aguilar.

{\an8}-One of the first things
that we did was to have a

conversation with the
owners of the mine.

They told us that,
at the time of the collapse,

the miners were working
near the bottom of the mine.

This mine
had a very unusual shape.

It's a big tunnel
going down a ramp,

spiraling down like a corkscrew,

until you get to
around 2600 feet.

That is nearly two
Empire States Building,

stacked on top
of each other.

[Andre] There was a
place we thought the miners

might gather in

so we were looking for that spot

as our top priority

[Laurence] The logical
deduction is if they were

not already dead,

they should go to the
refuge which is a room inside

the mine where
you have some food,

some first aid kits.

Theoretically, if
we could make a hole with

a drilling machine
to reach that refuge,

maybe you can find somebody.

[cheering]

-It's 11pm and here we
can see how excited people are

[Maria] Everyone was so
happy because

finally a big drilling
machine arrived

to rescue the miners

Let's hurry up, hurry up

because their time is
really running out now.

[Laurence] I was told that,
because of the weight and the

rotation of the machine, natural
deviation of the drilling will

be around 5% away
from your target.

[Andre] It's like
when you have a fishing rod

and cast it forwards, it bends

That's what happens
with drilling due to the

weight of the rods

direction, and so on

[Laurence] These instruments
are not made for doing

very precise holes.

To try to get a target that
was very small, underground,



is like to try to point a house
that is seven blocks from here

with a stick.

You will tremble,
and it's not easy to,

to just hit that point.

That was the challenge.

-You could hear banging

[Alex] It was like an
injection of strength and hope.

It was

like music to our ears.

-We all started
jumping for joy,

"They are looking for us!"

They had not left us alone

[Rene] One of the toughest
things that we faced was this

idea we might be losing
miners because we are not

getting there on time.

We didn't know
anything about their status,

if they were alive at all.

If they had air to breathe.

If they had water.

If they had food, or anything.

What if, because of this,

we lost the life of this
miner whose family is here,

and I'm talking
to them right now?

So, that level of
pressure was enormous.

Enormous.

[Laurence] After some days,

we had many
machines drilling.

All of them had problem before,

either that the hammer broke,
the machines failed,

or deviated significantly.

[Andre] Every hundred
metres the drill holes advanced,

we had the spatial location,

and if this was
going too far off course

then we would abort drilling,
and we'd start over

[Laurence] We had to
try something different,

otherwise we are gonna
continue with the same results.

We had this problem of
deviation of the drilling.

I called an expert in Australia,

I asked if he could
integrate with the geologist

to help with the process.

He accepted.

So, we send a plane from
the air force of Chile to get

these machines, and
to get the specialist.

-When I first arrived on site,

we needed
to know the layout of the mine,

and that's when we first learnt
that the historical record

keeping probably wasn't the best
on this particular mine site.

We couldn't be 100% certain of
the exact depth measurements,

so, it was a bit of a worry.

Once we started surveying,

then we could really
see the extent of the situation,

and it was, it
was fairly dire.

There were already
iron rigs drilling,

everyone trying to drill
the fastest hole they could.

Everyone getting very
emotional and wanting to help,

they all wanted to
be the first person to,

to, to get success, that
everyone was rushing,

and this was part
of the problem.

This was, this was
making the drill holes bend

even more away from the target.

And I remember having
several conversations,

"You need to it slow down a
little bit to make things go

a little bit straighter."

Wasn't happening.

Everyone wanted to
go as fast as they could.

So, we needed a new plan.

[Mario] In those days

we were doing really bad,

it was really bad,

I thought, how can this be?
No, we have to come together

And I took a can of
tuna and peas

and I found a lid from
a truck filter

I said, "I'm going to
whip up a dinner"

Tuna with peas,


a portion of tuna,

and one of peas, brothers.

We've got a little fire here,
we've used everything we have

here to survive the situation

-Mr. Jose Henriquez was

the only one who had a
cellphone down there

he said to me,
"Record this moment"

We are all happy brothers,
because we will survive this.

With this we will
demonstrate that we are

Chilean by heart,
brothers

We are going to have a
delicious soup today

[Richard] "If we don't
make it

whoever finds these images
will see what we went through"

-We made a commitment
that we would be brothers

until death,

That we were going
to take care of each other

[Mario] Eat, eat, eat

We all got together

and made a wonderful
commitment to survive

[Kelvin] I was working closely
with the Chilean geologists.

We all probably worked more
than we slept, I think.

Every single day you'd
be on the mine site,

sometimes you'd finish at 2
or 3 o'clock in the morning.

Home for a couple hours,
and then,

and then straight back in there.

There were several
geologists working there,

one I became
quite friendly with.

Nicolas Cruz knew
more about targeting,

and how the
drill holes were behaving.

A few days in, we noticed when
we were reviewing the maps and

targeting, analyzing the data,
that there was a pattern.

Almost all the drill holes were
about 35 degrees off target.

And everyone just stopped.

We kinda had a
light bulb moment then.

We'd been pointing the drill
rigs in the wrong direction.

So, we thought we're gonna
have to do something wild here,

let's move the rig.

Let's point it 35 degrees
away from the target,

and see if the
ground will physically change

the course of the drill hole.

Now, of course,
this was a new plan.

I remember Nicolas saying,

"We've gotta talk to Laurence."

[Laurence] The summary of
the idea was to try to

point the drilling to a
different target in order to

get the target that
we are looking for.

If you continue doing
the same things,

you are gonna get
the same results,

so we had to change it.

It was worth it to try.

[machines whirring]

After some days, we had
many machines working.

We had this drilling
that reached 1,500 feet,

and then 1,600, 1,800,


The refuge was around


We were close to our target.

The adrenaline was pumping.

-The families were very
happy because we were very close

and everything suggested
we would have news the next day.

[Kelvin] We had drill rigs
pointing away from the target,

this crazy idea.

Everything's
riding on this,

this new plan.

Seeing all the families and the
people out the front and the,

and the pressure,
I was thinking,

"Oh, it's gonna work."

-They said it was
just a little way to go,

a few centimetres left

And I watched, praying to God
that it would be possible

That they would find all of them

[Kelvin] Unfortunately,
the first hole went past the

depth that the refuge
chamber should've been at.

Didn't hit the target.

[Laurence] It was
very frustrating.

And we have failed again.

[♪ eerie music playing]

[Ariel] As the
days went by,

we looked at the food box and

there was nothing left.

[Victor] We had been


in our stomachs.

We'd lost our sense of taste,
we had nothing left

[Ariel] I tried to find
anything that could be eaten

I checked the trash and
found fruit peels

which I ate.

I had to stay alive

because on
the day of the accident

my wife was
eight months pregnant

I had to go back
to see my family.

I had two sons,

and a baby girl on the way
which was what I was hoping for

I had promised to do
what I hadn't done with my

two previous kids

To be there for the birth.

My inspiration was
always my baby girl on the way

You do wonder,
what's going to happen?

Are we going to be stuck here?

And die?

[Dario] We
started feeling dizzy,

like our bodies
couldn't take anymore.

Nobody would go
anywhere on their own.

[Alex] I was so weak,

I would start to get up

and my vision would go black.

[Richard] I find
Alex Vega lying there.

I asked him what was wrong, he
said he fainted and felt unwell

and I tell him, "I am
feeling exactly the same

I really can't help you man,
to stand up or anything

because I'm in
the same boat as you

if I try to help you,
I'll end up falling too"

So I just had to leave him there

It was really difficult
to leave him there

-That day,

we had been
fighting sleep for days

We didn't want to fall asleep

No one wanted to fall asleep

because we were scared we
would never wake up.

[Scarlette] I was with
my little brother,

and it was like
a funeral for us.

I feeled like I
just want this to finish.

I don't want to
wait anymore.

Even if my father is dead,

I really want to know
now because the anxious that I

feeled on that time is,
was almost k*lling me.

-I'll be honest,
it was a bit of a challenge.

Not knowing exactly
where the target is.

It's pretty much
like drilling with spaghetti

and hitting a needle
in a haystack.

But, you know,
all we had was hope.

You just had to keep going.
We, we could do no more.

We had to do the best we
could with, with what we got.

[muffled drill whirring]

[Alex] I remember
it was around 4am

It was obvious that the
drilling was getting closer

At one point we all
started to stand up because

it was deafening

"This one is going to break
through, it's going to break."

Rocks appear and
then air comes through

[Victor] It
was like a b*mb,

The drill broke through.

It was like being born again

-Chi!

Chi!

Le!

Le!

Chi, Chi, Chi

Le, Le, Le

Miners of Chile!

-The fact that the drill broke
through right where we were

It was absolute joy

It's a miracle,
it was a miracle

We knelt down

and we gave thanks.

We said, "Thank You, Lord"

-There was a
moment when we all started

hitting it with
iron bars and rocks

so they would feel upstairs
that there were people alive

[Richard] I don't know
where I found the strength to

run and grab a heavy wrench

-We had to do everything

so the rescuers
knew we were alive

[Andre] You realize
you've hit something

when the drill loses pressure

Pressure from the air
entering the boreholes to clear

the dust from the drilling

And when it loses pressure,
it alerts us that

we found something, an opening

[Laurence] If you
hit something,

you need to start
taking out all the pipes.

Finally, we are
getting out the head of

the drilling machine.

-Please

[Laurence] And that's when
we saw something very unusual.

And I said, "It comes painted.
It's red!"

And the guys said to me,

"It was clean Minister,
I'm sure it was clean."

Hey!

-Long live Chile,
long live the miners!

Long live the miners!

[Laurence]
This is painted.

We have life down there.

[rescuer] Turn
the machine off please.

[Laurence]
All right, gentlemen,

we need a lot
of calm and quiet

There are 33 families

It looks like there
is someone down there

We don't know who,
how many, or how they are

It's been 17 days

This affects people in many ways

-Once we got the last bit,
we realized that the,

on, on the hammer at
the end of the drill,

something was there.

-"We are all well,
in the refuge, all 33 of us."

[cheering]

[overlapping Spanish chatter]

[Laurence]
Thank you man, thank you man

[in Spanish] Thank you,
thank you.

[Andre] It
was unexpected news

I never even imagined it,
not in my calculations

or in my dreams or anything

that this could
be possible or real

Sorry

Sorry for the

emotion

[Pinera] We are all well

in the refuge

all 33 of us!

[Scarlette] I didn't
know how to react.

I just was crying.

Like, I couldn't say anything.

For me it was a miracle.

[overlapping Spanish chatter]

-Chi, Chi, Chi

Le, Le, Le

Miners of Chile!

[Rene] It was craziness,
you know.

Still now I, I get emotional.

But that day was,

I think I cried like one hour
non-stop.

Uh, it was beautiful.
It was beautiful.

And a moment of joy,
strange joy, a lot of tears.

[Laurence] We were so excited,

and really happy
because they were all alive.

But I am not forgetting that
we still have to get them out.

[Andre] One phase was
ending but

the most complex one
was just beginning which was

getting them out from
the bottom of the mine

[Rene] A rescue like
this has never been

attempted in the world before.

Getting them out alive
was like Mission Impossible.