2010 Copiapó mining accident

The 2010 Copiapó mining accident, also known then as the "Chilean mining accident", began on Thursday, 5 August 2010 with a cave-in at the San José copper–gold mine, located in the Atacama Desert 45 kilometers (28 mi) north of the regional capital of Copiapó, in northern Chile. Thirty-three men, trapped 700 meters (2,300 ft) underground and 5 kilometers (3 mi) from the mine's entrance via spiraling underground ramps, were rescued after 69 days.[1][2] After the state-owned mining company, Codelco, took over rescue efforts from the mine's owners, exploratory boreholes were drilled, and seventeen days after the accident a note was found taped to a drill bit pulled back to the surface:"Estamos bien en el refugio, los 33" (English: "We are well in the shelter, the 33 of us"). Three separate drilling rig teams, nearly every Chilean government ministry, the United States' NASA space agency, and a dozen corporations from around the world cooperated completing the rescue. On 13 October 2010 the men were winched to the surface one at a time, in a specially built capsule, as an estimated 1 billion people worldwide watched.[3][4][5] With few exceptions all were in good medical condition with no long-term physical effects anticipated.[6] Private donations covered one-third of the US$20 million cost of the rescue, with the rest coming from the mine owners and the government.[7] Previous geological instability at the old mine and a long record of safety violations for the mine's owners, San Esteban Mining Company, had resulted in a series of fines and accidents, including eight deaths, during the dozen years leading up to this accident.[8][9][10] Following three years of work, lawsuits and investigations into the collapse concluded in August 2013 with no charges filed. wrote: