2010 - Year In Review Part 6

Cast your mind back to August when the story of the Chilean miners first broke. The world held it's breath as we awaited news on the 33 trapped miners and 17 days in, it was confirmed that they were all alive. The Chilean government immediately set about formulating a rescue plan and we were told that it could be Christmas before the miners would be freed.

Digging started on August 30th and, over three different digging phases, took 40 days to complete. The rescue generated international coverage with every news bulletin updating on the status of the digging and the condition of the miners. And then on October 12th, "Operación San Lorenzo" kicked into action. A combined television audience of over 1 billion watched as the miners ascended the specially dug shaft in the Fenix 2 capsule. The rescue effort took 24 hours and every news channel cleared their schedules to bring round the clock coverage.

Take a look at the BBC News Channel coverage of the last miner (Luis Urzua) being brought to the surface.