Chile miners reach surface

The first of 33 miners who had been trapped underground in
Chile for two months ascended to the surface late Tuesday
night, the beginning of the end of a rescue operation that
has inspired the nation and riveted the world.




The first of 33 trapped miners reaches the surface after surviving
more than two months about half a mile below ground. Efforts to
rescue the rest of the miners continue.

The first miner, said to be Florencio Ávalos, 31, traveled up
a narrow, nearly half-mile rescue shaft in a specially
designed capsule that officials had been testing for much of
Tuesday. When he emerged, rescue crews broke out into huge
rounds of applause.

If all continues to go well, the capsule is to lift the 32
other miners, one at a time, to the surface.