Trapped miners prepare for dawn rescue

The agonising ordeal for 33 Chilean miners who have spent two months trapped underground was nearing its end today.

Rescuers have reinforced the escape shaft and the 13-foot-tall rescue chamber sliding, as planned, nearly all the way to the men.

They will come up one by one in green overalls bearing their names on their chests - first the fittest, then the weakest, twisting in a steel cage that proved itself with four flawless test runs deep into the earth.

"It didn't even raise any dust," mining minister Laurence Golborne said.

If all goes well, everything will be in place to begin pulling the men out tomorrow morning.

The lead psychologist for the rescue team recommended the extractions begin at dawn. No official decision was announced but Andre Sougarret, the rescue team co-ordinator, tweeted that "today the miners sleep their last night together!".

Yesterday the Phoenix I capsule - the biggest of three built by Chilean navy engineers, named for the mythic bird that rose from ashes - made its first test run after the top 180 feet of the shaft was encased in tubing, the rescue leader said.

Then the empty capsule was winched 2,000 feet, just 40ft short of the shaft system that has been the miners' refuge since the August 5 collapse in the Atacama desert.

Engineers had planned to extend the piping nearly twice as far, but decided to stop after the sleeve - the hole is angled 11 degrees off vertical at its top before plumbing down, like a waterfall - became jammed during a probe.

Rescue team psychologist Alberto Iturra said he recommended the first man be pulled out at dawn because the miners are to be taken by Chilean air force helicopters to the nearby city of Copiapo and fog tends to enshroud the mine at night.

It is a roughly 10-minute flight, said Lt Col Aldo Carbone, the choppers' squadron commander. He said the pilots have night-vision goggles but will not fly unless it is clear. Ambulances will be ready for back-up. The drive would take about an hour.

Officials have drawn up a secret list of which miners should come out first, but the order could change after paramedics and a mining expert first descend in the capsule to evaluate the men and oversee the journey upward.

First out will be the four fittest of frame and mind, said health minister Jaime Manalich. Should glitches occur, these men will be best prepared to ride them out and tell their comrades what to expect.

Next will be 10 who are weakest or ill. One miner suffers from hypertension. Another is a diabetic and others have dental and respiratory infections or skin lesions from the mine's oppressive humidity.

The last out is expected to be Luiz Urzua, who was shift chief when the men became entombed, several family members of miners said.

The men will take a twisting, 20-minute ride for 2,041 feet up to the surface. It should take about an hour for the rescue capsule to make a round trip.

Mr Golborne said all would be ready by 12.01am tomorrow, local time (5.01am Irish time).

The media will be blocked by a screen from viewing the miners when they reach the surface. A media platform has been set up more than 300 feet away from the mouth of the hole.

After being extracted, the miners will be ushered through inflatable tunnels, like the ones used in sports stadiums, to ambulances that will take them to a triage station. Once cleared by doctors, they are to be taken to another area where they will be reunited with one to three family members chosen by each miner.

After the reunion, the miners will be driven to a heliport for the flight to Copiapo.

Maria Segovia, whose 48-year-old brother Dario is among those trapped, said that when he was finally out: "I'll tell him I love him, that I'm very proud of you." Then, she said: "I'll kick his backside" so he never goes into a mine again.