Rescued Chilean miners arrive in US for Heroes celebration

Thu, 18 Nov 2010

Los Angeles - The Chilean miners whose dramatic underground ordeal and rescue captivated the world last month arrived in the United States Thursday to participate in an annual salute to heroes organized by the news channel CNN.

The visit to Los Angeles comes amid intense interest from Hollywood in turning their incredible story into a major movie, with Brad Pitt only one of the major names angling to buy the rights to their tale.

The miners captured the world's attention after they were trapped below the Atacama desert following a huge mine collapse on August 5. There was no sign of life from them for more than two weeks until they were discovered alive more than 700 meters below the earth's surface.

It took until October 22 for "Los 33" to be brought out to daylight in a dramatic rescue watched all over the world.

Now, the men are swapping the months of darkness for the bright lights of Hollywood where they will be feted at the annual CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute.

But they are trying not to let it go to their heads. "The only thing I'll ask of you is that you don't treat me as an artist or a journalist, but as a miner," miner Mario Sepulveda told reporters ahead of the trip. "I was born a miner and I'll die a miner."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/354208,arrive-us-heroes-celebration.html.