Sixty-six agonising days after their gold and copper mine collapsed above them, 33 miners were anxiously awaiting a way out today as a drill carved into the last layers of rock above their underground purgatory.

THE first of three rescue capsules specially built to lift out 33 Chilean miners trapped since early August arrived at the mine.

The first of three rescue capsules specially built to lift out 33 Chilean miners trapped since early August arrived at the mine.

WORKERS in Chile expect to be able to rescue 33 trapped miners by mid-October, rather than early November as originally anticipated.

Rescuers drilling into a cavern where 33 Chilean miners are trapped have completed a bore hole ahead of schedule raising hopes the men could be out earlier than expected.

A huge drill began digging a planned escape route today as 33 men stuck half a mile underground in Chile became the longest-trapped miners in recent history.

CHILEAN rescuers will begin today the months-long task of drilling a shaft to rescue 33 trapped miners as officials draft an accelerated rescue plan.

THEIR self-imposed rations were meagre: Two spoonfuls of tuna, a sip of milk, a bite of cracker and a morsel of peach every second day.

Six miners were killed and two injured in Venezuela when they were buried in an abandoned mine where they were illegally working.

SINGING the national anthem in a full-throated chorus, 33 miners trapped deep underground thanked their rescuers and settled in for a long wait until a tunnel wide enough to pull them out can be carved through a half-mile of solid rock.