The good news is that the Chilean miners are alive. They were trapped 700 metres underground nearly three weeks ago. The bad news is that it could be another four months before they can be freed.

A key member of the rescue mission has told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that the men have not been told this yet, although they have their suspicions. Will they be able to cope with the psychological strain?

Contact has been made with the 33 miners trapped underground and it’s clear they are in good physical condition. But how are they doing mentally? Alberto Iturra is the chief psychologist on the rescue team. He told RNW’s Latin American department that he is upbeat about the situation:

“What we found exceeded all our expectations. We thought we’d be speaking to people hit by depression, but in fact, from the word go, we were struck at how active they were. They themselves took the initiative to send messages as soon as the narrow borehole reached them. That indicated they were in perfectly good mental health.”

Good relations
The miners were careful with the small amount of food they had, for example, taking the time to divide up a can of peaches. So far, relations between the men seem to have remained good.|

“We’ve said nothing about the timescale yet, but they will be doing their own sums. We’re gearing them up for it mentally by giving them things to do. Their knowledge of the mine means they realise there will be no quick rescue, because it will have to come from above ground. Drilling new tunnels takes time. The men can simply work out that it could take two, three or four months."

Enormous cheer
When the miners first made contact with the outside world, they immediately asked whether their colleagues who were leaving the mine when it collapsed had escaped. On hearing they were safe, an enormous cheer could be heard.

Psychologist Berna van Baarnsen agrees that the mental condition of the men is as important as how they are doing physically. She works at Amsterdam’s Free University Medical Centre and is leading research on the Mars-500 project, in which six people are simulating a voyage to the red planet. The subjects will be in total isolation for 520 days. The project has been running for just 82 days, meaning it is too soon to draw any conclusions.

Space travel
Dr Van Baarnsen explains that the Mars-500 situation has few similarities with that of the miners, who have never had to stay underground for more than 25 days. Despite the differences, United States space agency NASA has still been asked for advice. It has experience of keeping people physically and mentally fit in isolated spaces.

Capsule
Hans de Ruiter, mine construction expert from the Delft University of Technology has every confidence the miners will be saved.

“Something similar happened in Germany in the 1960s, when 11 people were trapped after a mining disaster. An escape shaft was also drilled down from above. They were hauled to the surface one by one in a capsule which just fitted through the borehole. In Germany, it only took two weeks because the miners were trapped just 80 metres underground. The Chileans are ten times as far down, so that makes three to four months.”

Professor De Ruiter believes psychological support for the miners is of major importance and that their families will also need help. It is important, for example, that the miners not be told anything that could increase the stress they are under.