The last of the Chilean miners, the foreman who held them together when they were feared lost, was raised from the depths of the Earth last night -- a joyous ending to a 69-day ordeal that riveted the world. No one has ever been trapped so long and survived.
Luis Urzua ascended smoothly through 2,000 feet of rock, completing a flawless 22 1/2 -hour operation that unfolded with remarkable speed. Before a jubilant crowd of about 2,000, he became the 33rd miner to be rescued.
"We have done what the entire world was waiting for," he told Chilean President Sebastian Pinera immediately after his rescue. "The 70 days that we fought so hard were not in vain. We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing."
The president told him: "You are not the same, and the country is not the same after this. You were an inspiration. Go hug your wife and your daughter."
The rescue exceeded expectations every step of the way. Officials first said it might be four months before they could get the men out; it turned out to be 69 days and about eight hours.
The crowd in "Camp Hope," downhill from the escape shaft, set off confetti, released balloons and sprayed champagne as Urzua's capsule surfaced, joining in a miners' cheer. In Chile's capital of Santiago, hundreds gathered in Plaza Italia, waving flags and chanting victory slogans.
One by one throughout the day, the men emerged to the cheers of exuberant Chileans and before the eyes of a transfixed globe. While the operation picked up speed as the day went on, each miner was greeted with the same boisterous applause.
"Welcome to life," Pinera told Victor Segovia, the 15th miner out. It seemed no overstatement.
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