Authorities face unique challenges to a safe outcome

IN three days, 33 miners trapped under Chile’s Atacama Desert will have been stuck underground longer than any others in memory – taxing authorities with unique challenges on coaxing them and their families through the ordeal.

A team of submarine commanders has been called in for advice on close-quarters living. NASA is advising on “life sciences” and giving the men a sense they control their own destinies. Exercise programmes are in place so the miners are skinny enough to fit through a rescue hole.

Even a masseuse roams a makeshift camp for the miners’ families, relieving tensions with a touch.