Peru: Nine Miners Rescued After Six Days Underground

Nine Peruvian miners emerged into the daylight Wednesday morning after six days trapped in a collapsed mine.

State television showed the miners leaving the mine, each supported by two rescuers. They wore sunglasses.

For days, a hose placed in the collapsed cavern was the only connection the miners had to the surface.

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala greeted the miners at the mouth of the mine. The group unfurled the red and white Peruvian flag and waved at the television cameras.

"We are happy that this high-risk operation was successful," said Claudio Saenz, a fire department official with knowledge of the rescue efforts.

The miners had been stuck since Thursday in the wildcat Cabeza de Negro mine in southern Peru.

A cave-in over the weekend slowed rescue efforts.

It was not clear what caused the initial collapse.

The miners had been getting oxygen, food and water through a tube, which has also allowed them to stay in contact with people above ground.

Mining is big business in Peru, which is a major world producer of copper, silver, gold and other minerals.

The ordeal stirred memories of a 2010 Chilean mine collapse in which 33 men were trapped underground for 69 days. All those miners were rescued, pulled one by one from hundreds of meters beneath the Earth's surface with a specially designed capsule.

Posted in: Latin America