Miners’ morale leaps as rescue closer

The morale of 33 miners trapped in Chile soared after music and hot meals were supplied, while Nasa advisers praised their “courage” and provided advice on daylight deprivation, as a rescue drill inched closer.

Drilling was paused on Wednesday afternoon to shore up the new shaft’s wall with cement, after a minor geological fault was detected in the rock, the rescue operation’s chief engineer Andres Sougarret said.

A new video shot by the miners and broadcast on state television late on Tuesday showed the men shaven, wearing clean clothes and listening to a tropical tune.

The figures in the images were a far cry from the haggard, mud-caked, bare-chested miners shown in a first video last week, days after they were located by a probe drill.

The miners have now spent 27 days in the San Josè mine in northern Chile, which collapsed on August 5.