Hope in Chile mine rescue capsule

Two back-up rescue devices constructed at Chile's naval shipyard are expected to be delivered later this week.

The man-size capsule will be used to pull the miners out one by one, once one of the three rescue holes being drilled reaches the men. The Chilean government has said that should happen by early November or earlier if all goes well.

Mining minister Laurence Golborne showed off the first capsule - named Phoenix - to relatives of the trapped miners this weekend.

Mr Golborne and a dozen family members tried out the capsule, a 924lb tube made of steel mesh and sheets that is big enough to hold one person.

Carolina Lobos, 25, the daughter of trapped miner Franklin Lobos, said the device seemed very small and confining when she first saw it. But after trying it out, she called it comfortable.

"I was very nervous, my heart was racing," she said.

"It was a very emotional moment for me to be in the capsule that will lift my dad to safety and bring him back to us," Ms Lobos added.

The capsule is nearly ten feet tall on the outside. Inside, the space is 6ft high and about 21in across. The largest of the miners to be rescued has shoulders 19in across.

The bottom of the capsule holds three tanks of compressed air - 40 per cent oxygen and 60 per cent nitrogen, health minister Jaime Manalich said. He said that was enough for about 90 minutes of breathing, more than the 15 to 20 minutes that the journey to the surface is expected to take.

A microphone inside will allow each miner to stay in touch with those inside and outside the mine while being pulled up, Manalich said.

He added that in an emergency, such as the capsule getting jammed in the rescue hole, the bottom could be opened with levers inside so the miner could be lowered back down by cable.

The rescue pod arrived at the mine well ahead of schedule, but Mr Golborne refused to be drawn on speculation that the rescue might happen earlier than the official estimate.