miners rescue

Rescue operations to bring 33 trapped miners to the surface are officially underway in Chile.

The miners have been trapped underground for more than two months. Efforts to surface them will take place on an individual basis using a specially built cage.

The AP reports that the only media allowed to record images of the men emerging from the shaft will be a government photographer and Chile's state television channel.

When the 33 miners were determined to be alive in late August, it was said that it could take up to four months to get them all out alive.

One of the trapped miners, 19-year-old Jimmy Sánchez, wrote an emotional letter to a relative just days ago.