Miners who have been trapped for more than 14 days in a copper mine in Chile's Atacama Desert are alive, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera confirmed Sunday. The 33 miners were found together alive, dpa quoted rescue workers as saying. The workers have been trapped since August 5 in a mine in San Jose de Copiapo, some 800 kilometres north of Santiago, after the shaft they were working in collapsed. Several further collapses frustrated rescue efforts, and the authorities had earlier this week unofficially express their fear that the miners may have died. All previous efforts to reach the miners, even through holes just a few centimetres in diameter to provide them with food and water, had so far failed.
