Reaction to the 2010 Copiapó mining accident
The 2010 Copiapó mining accident occurred when the San Jose Mine near to Copiapó, Chile, collapsed, leaving 32 miners of Chilean nationality and one Bolivian miner trapped inside about 700 metres below the surface. The men were trapped in the mine for 69 days before being rescued. The discovery of the miners and their eventual rescue received global attention, with over 2000 members of the media reporting from the San Jose Mine. Global leaders expressed good wishes for the rescue and congratulations upon its successful completion.
Political reactions
;ChileChilean President Sebastián Piñera and First Lady Cecilia Morel were present during the rescue, greeting each of the miners individually as they emerged from the mine. Bolivian President Evo Morales was also scheduled to be on location for the rescue but did not arrive in time for the rescue of the trapped Bolivian miner, Carlos Mamani. During a visit to Europe following the rescue, Piñera was offered an audience with Queen Elizabeth II, who extended an invitation at the last minute following the mine rescue. He presented her with a rock from the mine as a gift.
After all the miners were rescued, Piñera gave a speech on location in which he was effusive in his praise of Chile and said he was "proud to be the president of all Chileans." He invoked Chile's recently passed bicentennial celebrations and said the miners were rescued with "unity, hope and faith." He also thanked Chávez and Morales, amongst others for their call for support. He said those who forced the rescue, i.e., those responsible for the collapse of the mine, will be punished, and said there would be a "new deal" with the workers.
The incident generated interest both within Chile and internationally, with the miners being declared heroes by many people. Firestations rang sirens across Chile in celebration after the final rescue. In Copiapo, thousands of people cheered, danced and wept during the rescue as people chanted "Long live Chile."
The rescue operation was broadcast live on various news networks and international media. The reaction from world media was enthusiastic, and the rescue made the front pages of newspapers worldwide: not only was the rescue from the greatest depth of any such operation ever, but the miners had waited to be found – let alone rescued – longer than any other survivors who had ever been in their predicament.
;Russia
The rescue of the miners led to Russian bloggers asking why their country did not have a similar success story after a string of tragedies.
The last Russian mining catastrophe in May 2010 took the lives of 90 miners and rescue workers at the Raspadskaya mine near Mezhdurechensk, in southern Siberia, with safety breaches blamed for the disaster.
"The miner rescue operation is completed in Chile, greatly helped by the fact that Sergei Shoigu did not participate in it," wrote blogger xeyrulla on his LiveJournal blog.
President Dmitry Medvedev said in a message to his Chilean counterpart Sebastián Piñera that the operation is "proof that any, even the most difficult challenges can be successfully overcome by the will and courage of people united by the same goal".
;China
Escape capsules and shelter facilities were discussed in China after the news was released of the 33 Chilean miners being pulled to safety. An underground mine rescue chamber is believed to have played a key role. Luo Lin, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, made the remark at a meeting in Henan province after a gas leak killed 37 miners there. Mines in China were to have underground escape capsules and other emergency facilities by 2015, according to a previous administration work schedule.
The Changcun coal mine, which belongs to Shanxi's Lu'an Group, has been equipped with 16 underground escape capsules and seven shelter rooms. It was China's first mine with such safety facilities, China Youth Daily reported over the weekend. The capsule is a steel structure measuring 6.3 meters by 1.4 meters by 1.8 meters and can withstand the impact of a gas explosion. It has its own oxygen supply, air purifier and air conditioner and can keep 12 miners alive for 96 hours, according to the report.
;Rest of the world
A number of foreign leaders contacted Piñera to express solidarity and pass on congratulations to Chile while the rescue efforts were ongoing, including the Presidents of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner; Colombia Juan Manuel Santos; Venezuela, Hugo Chávez; Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; Peru, Alan García; Uruguay, José Mujica and Poland, Bronisław Komorowski, and Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, and of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
Leaders including United States President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Pope Benedict XVI offered congratulations to the coordinators of the rescue attempt and also to the miners themselves for their bravery. Cameron said during Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons:
President of the United States Barack Obama telephoned Piñera to pay tribute to the miners, rescue workers, the government and the Chilean nation. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke to Piñera the day after the rescue. His spokesman Martin Nersirsky said:
South African President Jacob Zuma said:
Media coverage
The government provided exclusive non-stop television coverage of the rescue, available for free to broadcasters around the world. The contract was won by state-owned television station TVN, which deployed a team of 45 people. The government signal offered live views from inside the mine as the rescue capsule reached its destination.The rescue was among the most-watched video streams of all time, according to internet monitors. Internet monitor Akamai said overall web traffic was 20 per cent higher than normal around the time the first Chilean miner was rescued late Tuesday, while the company's Net Usage Index for News indicated that the Chilean mine rescue was the fifth most-read-about online news event since the service began in 2005. According to a study from University of Navarra, Spain, this story had a far greater impact in the world's media than Chile's other big news story of 2010 - the massive earthquake in the south of the country in February.
As the rescue begun, the number of relatives swelled to 800 - but was quickly dwarfed by around 2,000 media employees who arrived from around the world to cover the event. Don Francisco, a Chilean TV host, broadcast live from the site, saying "I haven't seen so much media attention since the Apollo 11 back in 1969."
During the course of the rescue operation, around 2000 members from the international media were based on location at Camp Hope close to the San Jose Mine. Reporters came from all over the world including such far flung places as Yemen, Iran, Russia, Finland, China, North Korea, and Japan. The rescue made the front pages of some newspapers worldwide.
International participation
A large number of governments and corporations across the globe joined in the effort to find, sustain and recover the trapped miners.Contributions to the miners
A mining company gave the waiting families jackets to protect them against the frigid desert night. This act started a trend, as both private donors and state agencies committed to helping the miners and their kin, especially after they were found alive. Phone companies donated free mobile phone calls to families, workers, and reporters at the mine site and the government installed a Wifi network. Fishermen from the country's south delivered thousands of fish fillets. Clowns and singers came and performed for the families, in an effort to keep spirits up. A beauty clinic in the nearby town of Copiapó provided the miners' wives with makeovers.- Bolivian President Evo Morales offered a job in state-owned petrol company YPFB, and promised a home for the Bolivian miner, Carlos Mamani.
- Chilean philanthropist Leonardo Farkas reportedly wrote US$10,000 checks to each of the miners to help them financially. On 20 October, he threw a party for the 33 men, giving each man a motorbike and offering to buy two of them houses. Additionally he gave an additional US$10,000 to the two men who became fathers while trapped.
- Workers at Codelco said they would chip in about US$600 per man.
- A Greek mining company, ELMIN Hellenic Mining Enterprises, has offered each of the miners and a travel companion a fully paid, one-week vacation in Greece. The trip also includes watching a Real Madrid soccer game in Madrid, Spain, as well as a Manchester United game in England.
- Chilean football players' association has offered the men a trip to South Korea.
- FC Barcelona sent the miners signed jerseys while they were underground to lift their spirits.
- Tourism Minister of Israel, Stas Misezhnikov, extended an official invitation to the 33 Chilean miners to experience a "spiritual journey" this Christmas in the Holy Land. The men are invited to Israel with their spouses for a week-long, all-expense-paid sightseeing tour of various sites holy to Christianity.
- Real Madrid sent autographed jerseys with the words "Have strength, miners" and an invitation to watch a game at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Four of the miners accepted the invitation and met with the first team squad.
- Edison Peña was offered a trip to Graceland. Peña, who had been the group's song leader, had requested that Elvis Presley songs be sent down into the mine to help boost spirits.
- Steve Jobs of Apple sent each man an iPod Touch but Chilean officials withheld them before the rescue, concerned that the men might use music to isolate themselves from their fellow miners.
- The New York Road Runners club that organises the New York City Marathon has invited Edison Peña, who was reported to run a day while underground, a free trip to run in the annual marathon.