Chile miners discharged from hospital in secret
Baku, October 16 (AZERTAC). A further 28 rescued miners have been discharged from hospital in Chile in secret, a health official has said.
Paola Neumann, head of regional health, said their release was not publicised in order to protect them and their families. Just two of the 33 men who were freed in an operation that was viewed around the world remained in hospital, she told reporters. They would be transferred to different hospitals, she added. Dr Neumann said one was suffering from a dental infection and the other had vertigo.
She described vertigo as like a dizziness that made it difficult for the patient to maintain balance and walk properly. The first three of the miners were allowed home late on Thursday, and Dr Neumann said a decision had been taken to discharge the others on Friday without telling the media. "This is not necessarily because of the media. Please don`t take it personally," she told reporters.
The 33 miners spent 69 days trapped deep underground after a cave-in at the San Jose mine, near Copiapo in northern Chile`s Atacama region. For 17 days no one knew if they still lived, until a probe lowered through a narrow bore hole made contact with them. They had survived by eking out rations meant to last only a few days. Supplies were then lowered to them while they waited for a rescue shaft to be drilled to them, 624m below ground.
The government has promised the men it will help find them new jobs although their salaries are only due to be paid for another month. Health Minister Jaime Manalich said the miners would all be closely monitored over the next six months and he predicted that tough times lay ahead of them. "They have to adapt to a new life. Therefore we are prepared to stay with them and to work at least in the next six months," he said.
Edison Pena, who was released from the Copiapo hospital on Thursday, has expressed his anger about the accident, saying that when they were trapped he thought they were going to die. "Why do these things have to happen? Because the employer wants to make money," Mr Pena said. Speaking to reporters outside his home, he said he was worried about what the future had in store for him and his colleagues.
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