The first of the thirty-three trapped Chilean miners have been rescued after over two months buried deep underground. One by one, the miners are being pulled in a rescue capsule from over 2,000 feet beneath the collapsed copper mine in the Atacama Desert. They had been expected to remain trapped until Christmas, but the drilling of a rescue tunnel was completed last weekend. Earlier today, the second miner to be rescued, Mario Sepulveda, emerged from the rescue shaft and jokingly tried to give Chilean President Sebastián Piñera some rocks he had brought up from the mine as a souvenir. In a news conference, Sepulveda urged the media not to treat the miners as celebrities.

Mario Sepulveda: “The professionals that do all this publicity and television, the only personal thing I ask is for you to not treat us as artists or journalists. I want you to continue treating me like Mario Antonio Sepulveda, a worker, a miner.”

The last of the miners are expected to emerge late on Thursday.