Chilean Miners Return to Mine Site for Ceremony

By Joel ScanlonOct 18 2010

In what must have been an emotional return to the mine some of the Chilean miners rescued recently attended a special thanks giving ceremony. After being trapped for 69 days the 33 miners were recently rescued when a mammoth rescue operation launched to free them concluded.

12 of the miners rescued accompanied by their families and friends attended a private religious ceremony in a tent near the mouth of the San Jose copper and goal mine which almost became their tomb. The service was jointly led by an evangelic pastor and a roman catholic priest.

The miners are being mobbed by the media and have appealed for some respect to their privacy. Juan Illanes one of the miners who was rescued made a statement of appeal to the hordes of journalists waiting outside the tent to not treat them as an entertainment story.

Some miners who were not trapped at the mine but were working there before the explosion complained that they were not allowed to take part in the special ceremony. All but two of the miners have been released from the hospital. Meanwhile doctors continue to monitor the condition of the miners for post traumatic stress disorder.