9am Briefing: First of trapped Chillean miners is winched to safety

THE first of the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for 69 days were today winched to fresh air and freedom amid cheers from their families and countrymen.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Oct 2010, 22:01 BST
Updated 13th Oct 2010, 10:40 BST

Chile's president Sebastian Pinera declared the rescue a miracle.

First to reach the surface at the San Jose mine after travelling up the 624-metre rescue shaft in a missile-like escape capsule was Florencio Avalos, 31.

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Wearing sunglasses to protect him from the glare of rescue lights, he smiled broadly and hugged his sobbing seven-year-old son Bairo and his wife. Bystanders cheered, clapped and broke into a patriotic chant of "Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le!".

Five men had been freed by 8.15am (GMT) today and they were being brought out at the rate of about one an hour, the most experienced first in case there were problems during the rescue, then the weakest, leaving the healthiest until last.

The last man out will be shift foreman Luis Urzua, whose leadership was credited for helping the men endure 17 days with no outside contact after the collapse.

President Pinera said: "This won't be over until all 33 are out. Hopefully the spirit of these miners will remain forever with us."

• THE city's parking attendants are set to snare more drivers after being issued with the latest palm top computers today.

The gadgets will cut the time it takes to issue tickets from around 90 seconds to 20 seconds, it was reported today.

The new devices are expected to catch half of the 100 or so drivers who are able to get into their car and get away before attendants have issued a ticket.

The new machines use predictive text and print tickets in three seconds rather than 20.

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An insider reportedly said: "It'll cut the number of drive-aways by half."

• POLICE officers have carried out another search for the body of missing Suzanne Pilley after receiving new intelligence.

Specialist officers, including 20 Strathclyde Police Mountain Rescuers, scoured areas of Argyll Forest on Monday searching for the remains of the missing book-keeper, five months after the 38-year-old was last seen in Edinburgh.

However, a police spokesman confirmed that "nothing of significance was recovered".

David Gilroy, 47, appeared in court in June charged with Suzanne's murder and was released on bail.