Pretoria - Four of the 33 miners who have been trapped for 69 days in a mine in northern Chile have been brought to the surface.
The miners were confirmed alive on 22 August and at the time it was estimated that the rescue would take four months.
Florencio Avalos, 31, was the first to reach the surface after midnight on Tuesday after spending 69 days some 700m underground. No person in history has been trapped so deep underground for so long and survived.
His family and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera were at the scene to receive him. Avalos was warmly welcomed by his son, his father and wife, as well as hundreds of people gathered at the scene to witness the historic moment.
Amid the sound of applause, cheers, sirens, and camera flashes, Avalos walked out of the Phoenix capsule - a 54cm-wide and 4m-high steel tube custom-made by the Chilean Navy that carried him to the ground through a 662-meter shaft.
His son rushed to him and they shared a huge embrace. The seven-year-old burst into tears, as did Chile's first lady Cecilia Morel. Avalos was then embraced by President Pinera among waves of cheers chanting "Chile! Chile!"
Avalos smiled and was then escorted to a medical center for further tests.
Mario Sepulveda was the second miner to have been lifted out and was met with similar cheers as he walked out of the capsule. The third and fourth miners were brought to the surface this morning.
The remaining miners will be hoisted to the ground in a set turn and the whole process will probably last for more than 30 hours. The last miner to be rescued out is expected to be Shift foreman Luis Urzua.
Pinera delivered a speech in high spirits as the capsule descended to the tube to rescue the second miner.
"It won't be over until all the miners are rescued out. Hopefully, the spirit of the miners will stay forever with us. This country is capable of great things. We Chileans have shown the best of us."
He described the experience as "a wonderful night that Chileans and the whole world will never forget" and noted that the rescue was unprecedented in the history of the world for its magnitude and complexity.
The President said his government will strive to improve mine workers' safety.
