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Drill reaches 33 Chilean miners; rescue near
"It is almost over; they are about to get out,"
- Roberto Reyes, Miner family
Chile's mining minister said late Saturday that the 33 miners trapped for more than two months will probably be pulled out starting Wednesday.
That's because the rescue team has decided to reinforce less than 315 feet of the rescue shaft in steel pipe.
The rest of the escape shaft is exposed rock, and the rescue team has decided it's strong enough to provide a smooth ride for the miners' escape capsule.
Mining Minister Laurence Golborne set the date after the shaft was inspected with a video camera Saturday, following the completion of the hole earlier in the day, a success that set off celebrations by the miners underground and by their families and rescue workers on the surface.