Trapped Chilean miners give hope to their families through video

London, Aug.28 (ANI): Stripped to their waists and sweating in the heat, unshaven, scrawny and filthy, the 33 trapped Chilean miners gave hope to their families waiting above ground through a video clip.

In the haunting 45-minute video, released on Thursday night, the miners sent messages of love against a backdrop of tunnels and caverns that have entombed them since the cave in on 5 August.

At the entrance to the San José mine, where family members have set up camp, the atmosphere was jubilant. Ruth Contreras, whose son Carlos Bravo is one of the trapped men, said: "He's skinny, bearded and it was painful to see him with his head hanging down, but I am so happy to see him alive."

The men shot the grainy video with a camera sent through a small relief shaft, which reached their emergency shelter on Sunday, The Guardian reports.

In the footage, the men - many still wearing their helmets - take turns to address the camera, some cracking jokes, but all repeatedly thanking those involved in the rescue effort.

Above ground, family members in "Camp Hope" dragged chairs from the mess hall and used the side of a tent as a screen on Thursday night, watching in elation and anguish as the camera panned across the men's faces.

"They're giving us a lesson in survival," said Elizabeth Segovia, whose brother Darío is one of the trapped men. "They're well organised. They do look thin, but they look cheerful."

The video gives a glimpse of the men's cavernous living quarters: a two-kilometre stretch of tunnel. But it also gives an insight into the extreme conditions they must endure in the weeks to come. (ANI)