Near miraculous rescue efforts from outer space to below Earth’s surface

World Today

Thai police stand in front of the entrance to a cave complex where 12 boys and their soccer coach went missing, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand, Monday, July 2, 2018. Rescue divers are advancing in the main passageway inside the flooded cave in northern Thailand where the boys and their coach have been missing more than a week. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Rescuers in Thailand face a tough task, but people have been rescued before – in extreme situations on earth and beyond.

CGTN’s Jim Spellman reports.

In 2010, 33 miners in Chile were trapped deep underground after an explosion collapsed a mine shaft. Rescuers drilled exploratory holes trying to find them. After 17 days, rescue crews found a note from the miners attached to a drill bit. After 69 days underground, all 33 miners made it to surface safely.

In 2009 US Airways Pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger landed an Airbus 320 on the Hudson River off of New York City after a bird strike damaged both engines. Dubbed “The Miracle on the Hudson” all 150 passengers and 5 crew all escaped safely.

In 2016, four miners in Shandong Province China were trapped more than 200 meters below the surface. Hundreds of rescuers worked day and night digging ventilation shafts and sending food and water down to the miners while an escape tunnel was created. After 36 days the trapped miners rose safely to the surface.

And in 1970, three US astronauts headed for the moon were stranded in space after an oxygen tank exploded, damaging electrical circuits. The crew improvised a solution and made it back to earth safely.