- The miners drank water from storage tanks.
- The miners were able to use heavy equipment to provide light and charge the batteries of their head lamps.
- They ripped off the sleeves of their shirts shirts to endure the stifling heat but did not appear to be threatened by toxic gases such as methane, which can poison miners after cave-ins.
- They had very little food underground. Each miner only ate only 2 teaspoons of tuna and one biscuit a day.
The Copiapó Mining Accident | How did the miners survive? |