Chilean officials have broken some bad news to a desperate group of trapped miners, telling them they could be stuck in their collapsed mine for months before being rescued.
"We were able to tell them... they would not be rescued before the Fiestas Patrias (Chile's September 18 Independence Day celebrations), and that we hoped to get them out before Christmas," Health Minister Jaime Manalich said.
He said the 33 men, trapped 700 meters below ground, took the information calmly, but he warned "a period of depression, anguish and severe malaise" could ensue.
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Officials had been hiding the bleak information from the miners since they were discovered alive on Sunday in a shelter in the San Jose gold and copper mine, more than two weeks after an August 5 collapse.
Rescuers feared the psychological impact the news would have as the 33 men contemplated their long ordeal inside the hot, dank shelter, with a tiny hole to the surface as their only lifeline.
