Chile Miners Rescue: 10 men now saved – All going well

We have been keeping our readers informed about the trapped Chilean miners since it was 1st found they were alive, through to their recent imminent rescue and earlier today brought you the news of the very 1st miner to be brought safely to the surface, Florencio Avalos Silva.

Now another important milestone has been reached as the tenth miner to be rescued has just been brought to the surface. Of course nothing will be taken for granted until every last man has been saved but the scenes of elation and jubilation surrounding the scenes from Chile so far today have been heartrending, moving and touching in every way as one-by-one we have seen scenes of joyful reunion.

The men to have been saved so far then are Florencio Avalos Silva and secondly Mario Sepulveda who showed powerful emotion as he even greeted his rescuers with presents of rocks from the mine below.

Then 3rd came Juan Illanes, aged 52 followed by Carlos Mamani of Bolivia, and next 19-year-old Jimmy Sanchez, according to Carole Erskine over on Sky News. There had been particular concerns over Sanchez as it was said he suffered from claustrophobia but the ascent to the surface went smoothly until he too was safe and emerged from the metal cage looking remarkably fit and composed.

Then came the turn of Osman Araya, followed by Jose Ojeda met by his stepdaughter, and then 34-year-old Claudio Yanez, a father of 2 girls, whose girlfriend proposed to him while he was still underground.

The ninth man to emerge was Mario Gomez, the oldest of the miners aged 63, and said to be suffering from respiratory problems. He was met by his wife for a reunion where he also knelt on the ground to pray. He was to be flown directly to hospital because of his underlying health concerns although he looked very well after such an ordeal.

Then came the turn of the tenth man to be saved and it was 32-year-old Alex Vega Salazar who suffers from hypertension and kidney problems but attempted to keep fit underground by running every day. We have just seen a very emotional greeting from his wife who embraced him as he stepped from the cage.

For more on this go to sky.com. So that’s 10 men safe so far but still 23 to come along with their brave rescuers. We will continue to hold those men and their families in our thoughts until they're all rescued. We’d welcome your thoughts about the Chile mine rescue and the saved miners so please do send in your comments.