Elisa Menendez
ALL eyes are on the eight heroic men whose efforts to reach Julen Jimenez Rosello, 2, are being broadcast globally.
It has now reached 31 hours since the miners began their rescue mission.
With the fourth explosion carried out successfully, the team is returning down the tunnel to complete the tunnel.
Flown in from Asturias – one of the most prominent mining regions in the country – the eight specialists are part of the Brigada de Salvamento Minero de Hunosa,
The body, founded in 1912, was created to act as an emergency response when miners suffered accidents.
It is the same organisation which famously helped 33 Chilean miners who were stuck underground in 2010.
Led by Captain Sergio Tunon, the other rescuers are technical engineer Antonio Ortega, Adrian Villarroel Fernandez, Jesus Alfonso Fernandez Prado, Lazaro Alves Gutierrez, Maudilio Suarez, Jose Antonio Huerta Lamuno, and Ruben Garcia Ares.
The eight men are working in pairs, apparently taking it in turns to be lowered into the well for 40-minute shifts.
Crawling on their hands and knees the men are digging by hand in cramped and dangerous conditions, wearing oxygen masks.
They are currently digging a horizontal tunnel to reach little Julen with less than a metre left.
