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[交流] 【Pure water】Chile's President Pinera promises mine safety review

President Sebastian Pinera of Chile has met the 33 rescued miners at the hospital where they are recovering and announced a review of mine safety.

Speaking outside Copiapo Hospital, he promised that never again in Chile would people be allowed to work in such inhumane conditions.

The president described the rescue of the men after more than two months trapped underground as "a miracle".

At least two of the men are due to be discharged from hospital on Thursday.

Of the rest, several are receiving treatment for dental and eye problems, and two have the lung disease silicosis.

The rescue concluded earlier when Luis Urzua was brought to the surface.

Mr Urzua emerged to jubilant scenes at 2155 local time on Wednesday (0055 GMT on Thursday), ending a rescue operation of more than 22 hours.

As he left the capsule he was congratulated by President Pinera who met him again during a visit to Copiapo hospital on Thursday and told reporters of a conversation they had shortly after the mine superviser had finally been rescued.

The Chilean leader said that Luis Urzua's words had "touched my soul... when he said that this should never happen again".

Mr Pinera said it was impossible to guarantee that Chile would never face such an accident in the future.

"But we can guarantee one thing: never again in our country will we allow working in conditions so inhumane and so unsafe as happened in the San Jose mine and many other places in our country."

President Pinera promised a review that would lead to a "very radical change" affecting the health and safety of workers in the transport, fishing and construction industry as much as mining.

'Under control'

All of the miners are now in hospital in Copiapo, being treated in two wards that have been darkened to allow the men to adjust to the light.

The BBC's Rajesh Mirchandani, outside the hospital, says the eldest miner, Mario Gomez, 63, is being treated for pneumonia and the lung disease silicosis. The second man out of the mine, Mario Sepulveda, also has silicosis.

At a news conference on Thursday, the hospital's medical sub-director Dr Jorge Montes told reporters that the condition of all 33 men was under control.

Some of them had received dental surgery the previous day and further dental treatment would be provided to others, he added.

Seventeen of the miners are being treated in a special unit of the hospital while the other 16 are in a general section. Each miner is being allowed up to three visits per day.

The miners had been told they would need to be held in the hospital for 48 hours but because of the surprisingly good health of most of the men, three of them will be discharged in a matter of hours.

"We estimate that around 1600 hours [1900 GMT] this afternoon some of them are going to leave this hospital," Dr Montes said, adding that at least two or three would be discharged.

"All the patients have completed their examinations. But the people who are going to be released are going to be the ones with the lowest index of complications. The three patients have evolved very positively."

'Completely surprised'

Health Minister Jaime Manalich said it had come as a shock that the miners were in such a good condition, and that many of them were in a position to be discharged over the next 24 hours.

"Even when we recognise the efforts on the part of the medical team we were completely surprised and we call this a miracle. Because any effort we could have made doesn't explain the health condition that these people have today," he added.

However, one doctor, Guillermo Swett, told the Associated Press news agency that the youngest miner, Jimmy Sanchez, 19, was struggling and appeared depressed.

"He spoke very little and didn't seem to connect," Dr Swett said.

The huge media contingent has been packing up at the nearby San Jose mine and turning its attention to the hospital.

The miners were trapped when part of the San Jose copper and gold mine in the Atacama desert collapsed on 5 August. It was 17 days later when rescuers discovered the men were alive.

The long rescue attempt drew to a close on Wednesday night when the capsule carrying Mr Urzua up the 624m (2,047ft) rescue shaft emerged to songs and applause.

There were scenes of celebration at the mine, in Copiapo and around Chile. Thirty-three balloons in Chilean colours were released above the mine.

Mr Urzua, the shift supervisor at the mine, said: "We have done what the entire world was waiting for. We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing."

Mr Pinera said: "What ended up as a real blessing from God started as a possible tragedy.

"But the unity, the faith, the compromise, the honesty, the solidarity of the Chileans in those 69 days makes us very proud."

The final man out of the mine was rescuer Manuel Gonzalez, who returned to the surface just under two-and-a-half hours after Mr Urzua.

The operation had lasted just over 22 hours. Florencio Avalos was the first miner to reach the surface - at 0010 on Wednesday (0310 GMT).

The rescue team was soon able to cut the time down between each ascent from an hour to 25 minutes, and by Wednesday afternoon it became clear that the operation would be completed in half the time originally estimated.

Messages of congratulations to the Chilean people have poured in from around the world - from US President Barack Obama, Pope Benedict XVI, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and many others.

President Pinera has already said the San Jose mine "will definitely never open again".

He has vowed to punish anyone found guilty of wrongdoing.

"Those who are responsible will have to assume their responsibility," he said.

The families of 27 of the miners have already sued the mine's owners for negligence.

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