In 2010, thirty-three miners were working deep underground in the San José copper mine in Chile when the mine collapsed without warning. In seconds, the men were sealed nearly 2,300 feet below the earth’s surface—deeper than the Empire State Building is tall.
Rick, dust, and darkness surrounded them. They had no communication.
Rescue teams searched for days… then weeks. Eventually, the world was told the truth: the miners were presumed dead. But underground, something else was happening.
The men were alive.
With food supplies meant to last only two days, they rationed crumbs. They slept in total darkness. Temperatures rose above 100 degrees. The pressure was crushing—physically and mentally. One miner, José Henríquez, later called “the spiritual leader of the group,” began leading the men in prayer every single day. They quoted Scripture. They worshiped. They repented. They encouraged one another to hold on to hope. Instead of panic, they chose faith.
Seventeen days after the collapse, rescuers finally broke through with a drill. When the note emerged from the depths, it read:
“We are well in the refuge. The 33.”
The world was stunned. After 69 days underground, every single miner was rescued—one by one—through a narrow capsule barely wider than their shoulders. Not one life was lost. Many of the miners publicly declared afterward that God had sustained them. One said, “There were actually 34 of us down there—because God never left us.”
