Chile erupts in tearful fiesta as miners' rescue begins

The first eight of the 33 miners trapped underground in Chile's San Jose gold and copper mine, near Copiapo, for the past two months ascended to the surface early this morning. It was a sort of dark fiesta in that country, as the rescue operation inspired the nation and riveted the world as it moved into its final phase.

José Ojeda, 46, waved to a crowd as he emerged from underground and was wheeled on a stretcher for medical examination. More than six hours earlier, the first miner, Florencio Ávalos, 31, had travelled up a narrow, nearly half-mile rescue shaft in the specially designed capsule that officials had been testing for much of Tuesday.

Shortly after midnight, horns blared as the capsule reached the surface with Ávalos inside. With a look of sturdy calm, he hugged his family, his nation's president Sebastián Piñera (who was anxiously watching) and the workers around him before being taken away on a stretcher, giving a thumbs-up as he left.

Five more miners followed afterward. The rescue had finally begun.

The second miner to reach the surface, Mario Sepúlveda, was exuberant as he left the capsule, hugging family members and officials. He embraced Piñera three times and presented people with gifts: rocks from the mine. Then he led the crowd in a cheer. "Chi, Chi, Chi, le, le, le," they shouted. "Miners of Chile," a refrain echoed as subsequent miners reached the surface.

Deep in the mine, 26 other miners waited for their turn, along with a rescue worker who had descended to their underground haven in the narrow capsule, which was painted with the red, white and blue of the Chilean flag.