Copiapo, Chile (CNN) -- After 69 days and a cost as high as $20 million, 33 miners have finally been extracted from the bowels of the earth. To roaring applause, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera placed a metal cap on top of the rescue hole early Thursday morning -- and marked the end of a rescue operation that captivated the globe.
But in a way, the story is just beginning -- both for the miners, who now must live with their new status as folk heroes and the spotlight that comes with it, and the government, whose attention turns to protecting workers' safety.
"I hope this will never happen again," said shift foreman Luis Urzua, the last miner out of the gold and copper mine, as Pinera embraced him.
"I am so proud of what you have done," the miner told the president. "Thank you to all the rescuers, to all of Chile, to everyone. I am so proud to be Chilean".
"We had hope that someday we would be rescued," Urzua said.
CNN
