Copiapo, Chile (CNN) -- The 16-man rescue team that will carry out the operation to free 33 trapped miners trained for their mission at the mine site in northern Chile Wednesday.
"Without a doubt it will be one of the most difficult assignments," said the team's leader, Ovidio Rodríguez Nuñez. "Despite that we are ready for mining emergency, that's especially true for this mission that they have chosen us for. We are prepared, the team members have met and we are sure of our success".
In addition to Rodríguez, the team is made up of ten rescue workers from Codelco, the state mining company, two rescue workers from the Atacama region, where the mine is located, and three Navy paramedics.
"Each of them have the mental and physical abilities to carry out the tasks they will have that day," Codelco engineer Rene Aguilar said. "Both the people who work above aground and those who work in the mine".
Aguilar said most of the men were experts in underground rescue, fire rescue and mining accidents.
Working in 12 hour shifts, Aguilar said, two of the men would be selected to go into the mine while four more assisted them on the surface.
CNN
