1. A helmet on a rock covered with the names of the 33 trapped Chilean miners at the rescue site

2. Workers operate a drill on Saturday and prepare the last tube that will complete an escape hole

3. Workers of the drill celebrate

4. and a man sounds a bell after the escape hole is complete

5. A relative celebrates as hope dawns after two months

6. A truck loaded with steel pipes that may be used to line the rescue hole

7. A relative looks tense, probably pondering the risks that still remain

San Jose Mine (Chile), Oct. 9: They wept, they cheered, sirens blared and a bell at a makeshift schoolhouse rang in celebration. After more than two months of waiting, the moment had finally arrived.

At 8.05am today, here in a camp in this scorching desert, a powerful drill pierced through abrasive volcanic rock to reach 33 miners trapped nearly half a mile underground since August 5.

Family members erupted into cheers. They ran downhill towards the site with flags, some singing the Chilean national anthem. A victorious call rang out: “Viva Chilean miners!”

It was a crucial moment in the long and tortuous effort to rescue the men, surviving on supplies lowered down to them more than 2,050ft (625m) below the surface.

Reaching this stage required an extraordinary international effort and pioneering rescue techniques to plough through thousands of feet of rock while not compromising the miners’ safety.

Chilean officials brought in advisers from US space agency Nasa, created a special rescue capsule and even fed the trapped miners cylindrical pies specially baked to fit down a narrow hole.

But the ordeal is far from over and even now, the rescue is likely to be days away, with the actual extraction beginning late Monday at the earliest.

“The families are clear, the miners are clear (about) what still needs to be done and the time it will take,” mining minister Laurence Golborne said. “We still haven’t rescued anyone.”

The next phase is expected to be the most dangerous. The rescue shaft is only a little more than two feet wide, and engineers must decide whether to line its walls with steel pipes to prevent rocks from tumbling into the walls of the shaft and blocking the way.

Many family members said they preferred to wait the additional three to eight days it would take to case the hole than to risk the well-being of the miners.

One by one, the men will have to be raised in a rescue capsule, nicknamed the Phoenix, which engineers are concerned could snag along the walls of the shaft. The miners themselves, some weakened by the ordeal, might have to set off dynamite to widen the hole on their end.

Even so, it will be a tight fit. The rescue shaft is not even straight, instead undulating through the rocky walls with as little as a few inches of clearance around it. As each man is lifted one at a time, there are concerns they could hit a snag and get wedged.

The miners have been keeping their weight under control so they can fit in the capsule, about 21 inches wide and built with a Nasa team’s suggestions.

Atop the rescue drill, operators of the T-130 drilling machine, which beat out two other machines working simultaneously to reach the miners, celebrated by pumping their fists in the air and spraying each other with champagne today.

The gold-and-copper mine, near the northern city of Copiapó, caved in on August 5 but it was not until 17 days later that the miners sent up a message telling rescuers they were still alive.

The miners themselves helped the drillers bore through the final few feet, said Claudio Soto, an employee of Schramm, the maker of the mobile drilling rig used in the effort.

Soto, who was at the rig when the drill broke through, said the miners could be heard celebrating as well. The miners were in radio contact with the chief driller, telling him when the tip of the drill first appeared. That way the driller could slow the machinery down, to avoid a sudden breakthrough of the entire drill, which would have put undue strain on the equipment.

Still to be decided is in what order the miners will come out. Officials said the strongest would likely come out first — so they can assist in rescuing the others — followed by those in poorer health, and then the rest.

Once the rescue capsules start running, the ordeal of more than 60 days will end with a one-way trip of 11 to 12 minutes.