>> "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." >> to keep hope alive. we are joined now by viewers from around the globe here on the bbc, and here at the bbc news channel in the uk. i am in the san jose goldmine in chile, where we are looking at pictures now of the imminent arrival of the 22nd miner to reach the surface. i think this lady is his girlfriend of 21 years, the mother of his three children, who are 18, 9, and to. -- and two. a woman who has struggled to

keep the family gone -- going with a man who has had problems in his life, a man who has struggled with alcohol. the man who has had drug problems as well. it was ruth who persuaded her brother in law to try to get samuel a job in the san jose mind. he had only worked there for five months. a man with the gift of gab, a born salesman, said his family, but a man who admits his own failings, his own peccadilloes. a man who has told ruth since being trapped underneath the ground that he is now paying the price, he feels, for all the sins he has committed in the past. it is difficult for me to actually see these pictures.

the sunlight is so strong at the moment. i think we might have alejandro fino there, the man in the striped shirt, who is in charge of chilean rescue services. there we have it on the screen. this is the girlfriend, the partner of samuel avalos. laurence goldburn there. he must be shuttered. he has been up all night with a lot of media. he has been reading the families, dealing with them, and also the emotion of this occasion. he has invested so much time in this. he has told people that he knew when this happened this was the most important thing that he had

to do. he had to rescue these men. he had to get them up. having been trapped below. his personal popularity rating here is 86%, the most popular man in the chilean government right now by far. the man in the checked shirt is not the man i thought it was. that is not alejandro fino. that is the engineer and also rene aguilar, who has been giving us these daily press briefings. removing that caller, which keeps the -- collar, which keeps the wire in place in the center

of that chapter. that means in just a couple of moments fenix ii is going to work its magic again for one of the families here on the surface. the cable just slacking off. here is the president. he has had a few hours' sleep overnight before taking calls from international leaders, including david cameron, president lula da silva. there is our friend, the special forces trainer. here is samuel avalos now, in this battered looking fenix

capsule, coming to the surface. andreas in the white hat and white coat. the door opens. he takes off the harness. sebastian pinera looks on. samuel avalos looks at some light for the first time in 69 days through his very expensive sunglasses. [applause] what moments for him. a wave.

my goodness. these pictures are always just so fantastic, just trying to imagine what this man is feeling now. i do not think he can quite believe it. look at this. he is smiling. he is laughing. he is taking off all the paraphernalia and the harnesses. the helmet goes back on, though. [laughter] there he is. kissing his girlfriend, ruth, of 21 years. the happiness you can see in her eyes and his as he now goes up

and embraces the president of chile, the man who visited this mine on three occasions. that was before he knew the miners were alive. he arrived here on the day of the 22nd, when the breakthrough was made. he says that the message is, " welcome to the return to the world." "welcome," says laurence golborne, "welcome." i am not sure who that is. embraces from the assembled

rescue teams there now. all this being filmed by the chilean authorities for the international media. some of these men of course -- samuel avalos may have spoken to them on the surface. his job underground was to check the air quality. rene aguilar is the deputy of the operations here. a fierce shake of the hand. now straight down onto the stretcher. that is something all these miners have done. the second out decided to go for a run around walkabout, having offered rocks to the president from underground, congratulating

and praising the rescue team. but samuel avalos is now going into the field hospital. if everything is all clear there, he will be allowed to have time with ruth and his three children. doesn't she look delighted? doesn't she look absolutely euphoric at what has happened? there we have it. my goodness. the 22nd minor up on the surface at 10 past five in the afternoon. miner up on the surface at 10 past five in the afternoon. we have 11 to go. let us look at the main pictures from today. >> for miner after miner, this

has been a miracle journey to freedom. for those watching around the world, this is a dramatic rescue and a symbolic rebirth. as he emerged into the sunlight, his eyes used to constant darkness protected from the desert glare by free sunglasses, the 18th to be freed chose this moment to pray and then propose to his girlfriend of 25 years. the question she had wondered if he would ever be able to ask. an answer he may have despaired of ever hearing. [applause] the rescue had started in the early hours of the morning. the first miner emerged to tears and hugs, before a medical checkup and a hug from the

president, who made this rescue his top priority. nearby, families waiting for their loved ones shared the joy and their hope for more. >> very emotional. i am about to cry. this is the first one. but if the first one comes out, they will all come out. >> and so it continues. the second man up, mario, lives up to his reputation as the showman of the group. above ground, his senses were clearly overwhelmed. [cheering] a moment that you can imagine. a moment that for nearly all the men was about their families and their loved ones. >> the truth is i am very emotional to be out here again. i have had 40 years of my life and now i am going to start living more. alongside my son, my wife, and my beautiful daughter.

>> amid the tears come a joy, and relief came the youngest, 19-year-old jimmy sanchez, a miner for just five months before the accident. he described his underground bunker as hell. the cameras following their every move, the men were checked by doctors and then taken to hospital, leaving the mind behind them. these incredible pictures from deep inside showed the moment the capsule arrived. this man was the sixth to be rescued, emerging to an emotional embrace from his wife. then came jose ojeda vidal. claudio henez was the eighth to be rescued. he clung to his fiancee, and nobody could blame him for not

wanting to let go. here, mario gomez, the ninth man up, thinking got for his survival. the story of these men has gripped chile and the world, their stories and personalities transcending the deep cabin underground where they were trapped. >> we have lived a magical evening, one of those that we will remember for the rest of our lives. a night when life defeated death, where hope defeated anguish. a night that makes us feel more human. >> and still the rescue continues. victor segovia kept a journal of their ordeals. no other miners have survived

this long underground. for 69 days, they worked together to keep their sanity. the rescue diminishes the tragedy, and the scale of the legend grows. >> [speaking spanish] >> their we are, back at the rescue site. this is the makeshift medical center. speaking to one of the doctors there. it is difficult to tell in the glare. president pinera earlier. the rescue continues apace here at camp hope, probably faster

than people expected. this extraordinary rescue might come to its conclusion around midnight, which would make it a 24-hour operation. this is the girlfriend of samuel avalos. he was just rescued. he looked delighted, of course. i will tell you a little bit more about him in a minute. i am sorry, he is the brother of the miner who was first rescued. there was a bit of a family complication because the father spoke with him but not with the other brother, the unofficial cameraman of this crisis, who was the first to appear in just before midnight last night, who

was brought to the surface. there we see the rescue continuing. welcome back to camp hope, here at the san jose mine in the desert, where the sun is slowly beginning to go down. this rescue operation is really reaching its conclusion. it has been an extraordinary story of survival, resilience, and perseverance by the miners. the rescue operation has continued apace. most of the miners are no reunited with their families. i think we have an image of the cave, with the rescuers underground.

that was their home for 69 days. dark, dank, hot. one of the miners described it as being like an oven. but not will just be a memory, a searing memory that will either haunt them -- will probably haunt them for the rest of their lives. one psychologist told them it will also be remembered and idealized as a glorious period of camaraderie and solidarity, as they spent their 69 days together underground. that was one of the recently

rescued miners. watching that right now, i am not sure who that is. i cannot tell in the glare of the sunlight. he is clearly seen his family. as you know, it happens in stages. they see one or two family members immediately as they come out of the mine, and after the medical checkup, they see another few family members. it all happens in stages. and here at camp hope, things are not beginning to wind down, but there is an air of calm assurance that everyone expects the last 11 miners to be brought out. in the nearby town of copiapo, were plenty of the men hail from, there have been extraordinary scenes of

jubilation. but as go to my colleague. >> this catholic nation held its breath for the man they call the 33. -- the men they call the 33. bills told nationwide to announce the first rescue, -- belle tolled nationwide to announce the first rescue, and chilly cheered. the first rescue brought them out onto the street. >> it is a miracle. it is a miracle. >> this is the main square in copiapo, a mining tow when where most of the 33 live. >> i think there will be celebrating may be a month. >> the rescue is a victory for the whole of chilly -- of she led -- of chile.

>> their work 33 men under the ground. we have done it. we are proud. >> a few hours later, more fast- moving vehicles, ambulances bringing the rescued miners to hospital. father of two, first out of the mind and first to arrive. the showman of the group, mario, already soaking up his new celebrity status. the frenzy of the night before turned into the morning after, but still they arrived. >> the rescued miners are being brought to hospital. people had better get used to this kind of attention. they spent two months as trapped miners but will spend the rest of their lives as national heroes. >> i am happy, this woman told me. we are enjoying their presence. we met margarita lagos, waiting to see her son for the first

time, the eighth man rescued. >> that are heroes. they are invited to any country. how long will it last? i wish there thing would last and take advantage of it. something like this, you do not see it every day. >> all the men will be locked away for two days behind these hospital curtains. when they go home, they will be very different men. bbc news in copiapo. >> we are looking at pictures of the fenix capsule underground in the cavernous chamber that has been home to these men for the last 69 days, the capsule making its 23rd journey to the surface with a minor on board. this man is 27 years old. he is one of the palomedos, who used to see the penguins and

doves sent down the supply line. he is a good childhood friend of one of the other miners. what can i say other than that this operation seems to be proceeding at a much faster pace than people had originally predicted. it might have started a little bit later, but it is also proceeding a little bit quicker. it is going up and down all the time. we see the winch, the very reliable cable that everyone has become fond of, doing its job. only 10 miners to go, which is extraordinary when you think of when they started this operation 24 hours ago. originally, it was predicted to last 48 hours, to hold days. if everything continues to go at this pace, we should be done in the early hours of the morning. it could be a 24-hour operation altogether. these are scenes of quiet

relief. less jubilation then there was last night, the novelty of that initial moment of hysteria has worn off. but every individual family has its own story to tell when they embrace their loved one from underground all that time. the rest of the village has a slightly, atmosphere -- a slightly calmer atmosphere as this extraordinary rescue reaches its conclusion. one of the stars of this whole operation down under, as it

were, is mario gomez. he is the oldest man. he scrawled out extraordinary notes, saying "we are all fine, all 33 of us in the rescue down below." that was the first signal that they were all alive. he was the ninth minor to be rescued. he fell on his knees and thanked the president, the rescue workers, and god. later, he met the president, as they all have done. remember, the president, that no mario gomez wrote, he carries it around with him like a good luck charm. now he will give the note back. let us listen in on that story between mario gomez and the president of chile. >> i was writing a letter for my wife and i put it in a plastic bag and said it up -- sent it

up. >> i saw your letter. i took it to your wife. and she was overwhelmed. down there, you wrote from the heart. >> yes. sometimes, you need for something to happen in your life to really reflect and understand that we only have one life. and the things one needs to change, i changed. i am a different person.

>> well, god kept alive because there is something important for you. >> 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 angeles.