trapped miners

**simply1** · 08-24-2010, 02:53 PM

Brutal. do they make 4 inch tv's?

(CNN) -- Thirty-three miners trapped 2,300 feet (701 meters) below ground in Chile are depending on food, medicine and supplies being dropped to them through a 4-inch-wide tube.
What comes out of that tube will have to sustain the men both physically and mentally for a long time -- perhaps four months, experts say -- while a shaft wide enough to pull a man through is drilled.
The miners already have been trapped for 18 days, since a rockslide inside the San Esteban gold and copper mine cut off their exit route.
A probe retrieved a note from the miners Sunday saying all were alive and well in a cramped, 530-square-foot (50-square-meter) shelter. They survived by sharing tiny portions of canned fish stored in the shelter room.
"Medics now are beginning to put down glucose water through a tube, first starting off with liquids and rehydrating salts, then in the coming days will put more solid food down," CNN's Karl Penhaul reported Tuesday morning from the scene near the town of Copiapo in northern Chile.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americ...ex.html?hpt=C1

**Mr Janny** · 08-24-2010, 02:56 PM

that would be terrifying. Can you imagine the prospect of being trapped for 4 months, 2300 feet below ground? unreal.

**simply1** · 08-24-2010, 02:57 PM

plus 32 other people in 530 sf, ugh.

**BCforISU** · 08-24-2010, 03:17 PM

Aren't they worried about the feces/urine in that small of a place? How will they keep that from messing up the air for this long?

**jdoggivjc** · 08-24-2010, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by BCforISU

Aren't they worried about the feces/urine in that small of a place? How will they keep that from messing up the air for this long?

Pretty sure that 4-inch tube also serves as ventilation. As far as human waste, they must have a place to dispose of it.

**3TrueFans** · 08-24-2010, 03:22 PM

Not to be morbid, but what if just one of them died and the rest of them were stuck with the body for 4 months?

**shildreth** · 08-24-2010, 03:24 PM

They said the cramped area is believed to be about 95 degrees with 95% humidity. Brutal.

**simply1** · 08-24-2010, 03:28 PM

Originally Posted by shildreth

They said the cramped area is believed to be about 95 degrees with 95% humidity. Brutal.

I think I'd die.

**CYKID** · 08-24-2010, 03:30 PM

I just measured a beer can and its only about 2 1/2 inches so they will be OK. If they can get a beer sponsor and a camera down there they can become a reality TV sensation.

**simply1** · 08-24-2010, 03:33 PM

I guess that's a really really long straight pipe.

**RyCy04** · 08-24-2010, 03:37 PM

Bruce Willis would them out before the day is done. And I wonder what it sounds like when supplies are coming down the tube. I am imagining a long bowling ball return type of sound.

**Wesley** · 08-24-2010, 03:46 PM

I think they will find a new job if they get out.

**JD720** · 08-24-2010, 03:54 PM

Originally Posted by Wesley

I think they will find a new job if they get out.

I know there are more important things for them to worry about right now, but I wondered if they get OT pay for 24 hours a day until they get out. They could take a year off and be fine.

Who know's what Chile's labor laws are like, but I wonder how that would be treated here.

**jdoggivjc** · 08-24-2010, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by RyCy04

Bruce Willis would them out before the day is done. And I wonder what it sounds like when supplies are coming down the tube. I am imagining a long bowling ball return type of sound.

BAD MOVIE ALERT!!! BAD MOVIE ALERT!!!