Update on Chile miners

SAN JOSE MINE—Pumping fists, or falling to their knees in prayer, over half the 33 miners trapped below ground in Chile for more than two months savored their first taste of freedom Wednesday, rising from the depths to a heroes' welcome.

"I have been with God and with the devil," said the second miner to be saved, Mario Sepulveda, 40, summing up his ordeal and miraculous salvation.

"I seized the hand of God, it was the best hand. I always knew God would get us out of there," he said.

"I have changed, I am a different man," said Mario Gomez, the ninth to be rescued and, at 63, the oldest of the group.

By early afternoon 17 miners had been winched up through an escape shaft drilled down in to the bowels of a mountain in the Atacama desert where they had been trapped by a cave-in on August 5.

Their historic and complex rescue, carried off without a hitch, has mesmerized all of Chile and a global audience watching it unfold live on television and the Internet.

Words of congratulation poured in from presidents Barack Obama of the United States, Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, as well as Pope Benedict XVI and other dignitaries.

At the San Jose gold and copper mine in northern Chile, cheers and tears of joy greeted the arrival of each of the miners brought 622 meters (2,041 feet) to the surface in a narrow, missile-shaped rescue capsule.

The contraption, painted in the red-white-and-blue of Chile's flag, was dubbed the Phoenix, to symbolize the men's rebirth.

The first out of the mine was 31-year-old Florencio Avalos, who breathed in his first lungful of fresh air before hugging his seven-year-old son and wife Monica then President Sebastian Pinera and other officials.

Sepulveda, the second rescued, quickly became a media darling for his energetic appearance that earned him the nickname "Super Mario."

He produced rocks from the bottom of the mine as gifts to laughing officials and relatives before leading them in a celebratory football song.

Gomez, who stepped out wearing a breathing mask to combat chronic breathing difficulties, said he had been through a life-changing experience.

"Often something has to happen to you before you stop and think and understand that you only have one life, and then you think what you have to change," he told Pinera, whom he thanked profusely.

Others following included the only non-Chilean in the group, Bolivian miner Carlos Mamani, 23, who was greeted by Bolivian President Evo Morales at the surface.

Also brought to the top was the youngest of the miners, Jimmy Sanchez, 19.

"Welcome to life," Pinera told Jorge Galleguillos, 56, who was the 11th man hoisted to safety. "Thank you for believing that we were alive," Galleguillos replied.

All the men appeared pale, but most looked to be in good health, and all wore special dark sunglasses to protect their weakened eyes from the natural light.

They were taken to a field hospital at the mine, and several were then flown to a regional hospital in the nearest town of Copiapo, where two floors were reserved for their convalescence.

While they seemed fit, psychiatrists warned the mental scars could last a long time. Chile's government has vowed at least six months of psychiatric help.

The rescue was the climax of a two-month old drama to keep the men alive, during which their every action and thought captivated their nation.

Before they were discovered, they had survived on meager rations in an underground shelter and a trickle of water.

Officials quickly set up narrow holes to supply them with food, water, communications, oxygen and entertainment as three drills began to bore rescue shafts.

Last weekend, one of those drills completed its shaft, well ahead of the Christmas deadline the officials had originally feared would be needed.

The pace of the rescue suggested the last of the men would be hauled up sometime early Thursday, though officials have given themselves leeway of several hours more in case they encounter a problem.

Pinera, who took office in March, said the operation was "without comparison in the history of humanity." His government's popularity has soared for its exemplary handling of the rescue.

Hundreds of relatives of the miners maintaining a vigil in a tent city at the entrance of mine in the Chilean desert cheered and wept at each escape.

Florencio Avalos's father Alfonso raised his arms in triumph before hugging his wife. "It's a huge joy. I'm so happy," he said.

But the family had to keep vigil for a second son, Renan, still below ground.

Alfonso Avalos and the other relatives said they intended to stay in the camp until all 33 men were extracted, in the name of solidarity and the friendship that has sprung up among them.

"We're going to stay until the last," he said.

Around 2,000 media employees from around the world had turned up at the mine to cover the unprecedented rescue.

The miners themselves hope the worldwide attention will turn their ordeal into an opportunity to make lucrative sponsorship and movie deals so they can live comfortably for their rest of their lives – and never have to enter a mine again.