>> "bbc world news" is presented by kcet, los angeles. funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you?

>> and now bbc world news. >> you're watching bbc news. live here at the san jose mine in chile. it has been a momentous day for the 33 miners, their families, and indeed the rescue teams and the people of chile. all the 33 are now on the surface. the first man arrived 24 hours ago. greeted by his family, his children, his wife. and also the president of chile, sebastien pinera. he was followed closely afterward by all the other miners and by just under 10:41, all 33 had reached the surface. it was a day of celebration, a day of euphoria, a day of the most wonderful images as

families were reunited. husbands reue into thed with their wives -- reunited with their wives, children re-united with their fathers. this report now from david ember. >> a moment in mining history. the last trapped man finally emerges from the ground. luis urzua, miner number 33, the shift supervisor. the 54-year-old comes out of the phoenix rescue capsule which has been winching men up to the surface for the past 22 hours. the crowds gathered at nearby camp hope erupt as they see the final stage of the rescue mission completed. chile's president pinera is among those welcoming back luis urzua, the final member of the group. >> the last one out like a good captain. and i want to say to you, we

are very proud of you. and of each and every one of the miners who have givens an example of loyalty and courage. and here i want to thank you and in front of you i want to thank the thousands of people who helped in this. >> no one expects that all of the trapped miners to be out so quickly. the rescue mission has been gathering dramatic pace for the miners being winched to safety one by one. all culminating in luis urzua being brought to freedom well ahead of the predicted schedule. and reunited with his family. the work of the phoenix rescue capsule is not quite over yet. the rescuers sent down to help also have to be brought to the surface. ♪ >> for all of the families of the trapped miners, their long,

painful wait is now over. all reunited with their loved ones and looking forward to taking them home. david emblen, bbc news. >> let's just remind ourselves of those moments when the last miner came to the surface. the shift leader, luis urzua, the man who had taken those miners in on an afternoon shift on august 5, and what ended up as the longest shift of their lives. 70 days for some of them. these were the moments that luis urzua, the man who demanded that he came out last, the captain of his team, these were the moments when he came to the surface. [cheers and applause] there it is. last miner.

brought to the surface. in the night sky, confetti, flash bulbs everywhere, cameras, the families are applauding. this is the moment when this operation, an extraordinary rescue, has come to an end. much, much sooner than anyone had expected. tim wilcox, are you there? >> an explosion of joy here. look at these scenes here. firing up into the air, balloons, everything else. and everyone watching these last few moments as luis urzua arrives at the surface. this is the moment the 33 miners were saved in 22 hours. can you believe it? these 33 miners trapped underground, for 70 days. now all safe and sound on the

surface. camp hope has just exploded here. at this moment. they never thought they would get them all up as quickly as they did. camp hope is a damp, cold, barren palatial that the families have been camping out and now drennched champagne. drenched in champagne. waiting for this moment. [applause] let's just pull away from those pictures to show you the

penultimate rescue worker. we saw him leave the bottom of that shaft. and only just a few minutes ago. now being applauded, phoenix two capsule. opening up again. how are you, friend? he says yeah, fine. a hug. so the penultimate man to leave the san jose workshop. 622 meters below the ground. applause from his colleagues. and they -- the president, sebastian pinera, who is omniscient, omnipresent and he's up here on the platform. and two hours ago, three hours ago, and he's back down there now greeting the last of the rescue workers. and as these hugs are taking place here, phoenix two capsule

prepared, once more, and this really will be the final descent for phoenix two. the mining minister there, just thanking this rescue worker. he must be absolutely shattered. he must be dead on his feet. having been up for the last two days at least. a quick cursory inspection of phoenix two. and now since rattling down that shaft, just being lined up, making sure the wheels are ok. just putting it into position. and beginning its descent for the final time. to pick up the final rescue worker. one of six who's been coordinating such a successful

rescue program today. so the lights of phoenix two descending down that shaft. for the first 54 meters, and then going through hard granite. which they couldn't actually reach down to -- they were going to line the whole thing, it could have taken them another week of these men being underground. well, that rescue worker is speaking to the president's wife. the first lady here. and now a cold wait for the last time for phoenix two.

to reach the bottom for that last rescue worker. to clambor inside to be pulled all the way to the surface here. as we wait for those pictures to see it appear at the bottom, through the bottom of that shaft, to pick up its last human cargo, let's just go back to that interview i did with president pinera a little earlier today. and i asked him at the beginning of this interview, what were the most memorable moments of the day as far as he was concerned? >> it has been a day we will never forget. full of emotion, full of joy. to see the miners coming from the -- to the surface.

and their wives, their daughters, with so much emotion and joy. has been something has the value of faith, teamwork, and given us a magnificent sample of trust, faith. >> what does it mean nor chile and its international reputation? do you think this is a watershed moment for your country, a country that many internationally might associate with the coup of general pinochet? >> i hope from now on when people around the world hear the whord "chile" they will not remember the coup detat, all chileans are united, committed, with this rescue effort.

and that's an example for the whole world. >> but you accept that this accident should never have happened. there are problems within the chilean mining industry. and these should be addressed and should have been zretched by your government -- been addressed by your government. >> certainly, yes, that's one of the lessons we have to take. because in chile, we have a lot of mining companies. big companies which are very good in safety but small companies like this one, they didn't take care, good care of the workers. and this mine should have never been acting or working in the condition they were. because there were no safety conditions to protect the lives and the integrity. >> does that mean the government was at fault for not having ensured that those safety regulations were in place? >> yes. we have to take that. and maybe the former government, but from now on, we have learned the lesson and we will change all our standards

and procedures to protect the lives, the integrity and the dignity of our workers. not only in the mining sector, across the country. >> will the government pay compensation to the people who are out of work now and what do you feel about the fact that these miners here are suing the government, the very people you have rescued? >> they are suing whoever is responsible for this. and they are exercising their right. but i can assure you that our government from the very first day, we didn't lose a second. from the very first day, when we knew that the company that owns this mine was not able to undertake the rescue effort, we took full responsibility. even though at that time, the odds were against us. >> how much has this operation cost? >> it doesn't matter how much it cost. it's worth it. >> how many millions? >> many millions. >> and one last question. you got the letter, what are

you going to do with that letter? the man who wrote it says he wants it back. are you going to give it back? >> we will have a conversation with the man. i think that that message belongs to chile. and it should be in a museum. maybe a special museum to remember what has happened in this mine. because what has happened, this mine, is much more than the rescue of 33 miners. >> even though it is his copyright? >> i already have talked with him. >> and what did you agree? >> at the end of the day, he has the final word. >> mr. president, just the last question. what does this mean to you ahead of your trip to europe? how well does that place you for that? >> i will undertake a trip to europe, to london, paris, and berlin. and i'm sure that chile, a country, but now it's more respected. than what it was before this rescue effort.

but at the same time, we will take this very company, because we have a lot of things to improve. and we will keep working. because after this rescue effort, we have other challenges. we want to be the first latin american country to defeat poverty and anti-develop scompment we will work together as we have -- and anti-development -- and development and we will work together as we have in this effort. >> sebastian pinera, president of chile speaking to me earlier about what this rescue operation has meant to him and indeed to the country as a whole. and let's take you back finally to the workshop area of the san jose mine. these underground pictures show the last man there. waiting, speaking to the rescuers above, but waiting patiently for phoenix two, the

rescue capsule, to be lowered down for the last time, we think, to pick up this man. he's been down there for a long time. he's probably hoping there aren't any practical jokes being played on him by the guys above. we've seen the capsule come down. but he sits waiting patiently in that light. the final of the six rescue workers, the 39th person to go up in this capsule. when it finally breaks through

the roof. let's listen to some of the conversation. [speaking spanish] >> so just chatting, some casual chatting here. [speaking spanish] as he waits. for the bottom of phoenix two just to edge through.

fascinating to see what he does. picks up the camera which is filming this or leave it for somebody else to come down, and tomorrow to tidy up. or is this the last time that anyone will step foot inside the san jose mine? [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish]

[speaking spanish] >> the final rescue worker. >> the final rescue worker now just moving around waiting to see phoenix two just break through. not quite clear what he's going

to do. when that capsule comes in. is he going to pick up that camera and turn the lights off? or perhaps that can be done manually from the top of the shaft. this quite possibly is the last time anyone will sit inside the workshop here. after the millions of dollars spent on this operation, this might never be seen again, this particular aspect of the san jose mine. phoenix two coming through. the voice from on high saying,

well, i'll wait for you. i expect you on high. at the top. the pictures are so thick and wondering if that was delivered. that he was turning all the power off. >> we're waiting for you up here. so do come up. >> and he's saying we're waiting for you at the top. here we go. >> very courageous. last man out. >> bye-bye. he's waving. bowing.

his final bow to the workshop here. clamboring in now. to the rescue capsule. be careful. is the advice from on high. slams the door shut. bolts it tight. puts him in the harness. the light is switched on inside the capsule. and here we go. that is it. that is the final departure from the workshop 622 meters

down. at the san jose mine. [applause] so the last man out, the last rescue worker has left that part of the mine forever. and we will just remember now some of those scenes on the surface. this was the moment when ariel tacona, the man who had baby

espiranza 40 days into his ordeal and pictures were sent to him in the ground where his wife gave birth. this is when ariel tacona came to the surface. >> this is at the emotional climax of this rescue saga. and tacona now embracing his wife, his baby espiranza, baby hope, and wasn't there for the berth, couldn't be there for the birth. but of course that story boosted morale 2,000 feet below. and certainly boosted the

morale of the country. what a wonderful scene to behold. [speaking spanish] >> president pinera right here gets to do this one more time after this. but i think he's been genuinely moved by this whole story. first lady of chile. some of the mining rescue officials. and i have to say again that he looks in remarkably good shape. there he is.

holding up a phone. he held up a broken phone. i can't tell you why. but it had something and got a round of applause. [applause] we are now down to the last -- i can only assume. [speaking spanish] [applause] right. this is important. he just said this is a phone that we used in order to speak to the people on the surface for the first time. and he congratulated the extraordinary expertise of the chilean rescue workers who made that come about. so that was the communications

leak. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the top stories from around the globe and click to play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank.

>> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> there is one stage that is the met and carnegie hall. >> o, that this too, too solid flesh -- >> it is the kennedy center. >> check, one, two. >> and a club in austin. >> it is closer than any seat in the house, no matter where you call home. >> the top of the world, and i'm there, i'm home. >> pbs -- the great american stage that fits in every living room. your support of pbs brings the arts home. >> bbc world news was presented by kcet, los presented by kcet, los angeles.