SAN JOSE MINE, Chile (AP) — As 33 Chilean miners begin their second month trapped 2,300 feet underground, there are tensions on the surface between some of their loved ones.
One miner's wife and lover have been keeping vigil. When the two realized they were praying for the same man, they had a very public argument, and the wife tore down a poster with the miner's photo that the mistress had set up.
The mistress taped her poster back up, and beneath several poems and prayers she had dedicated to him, she added: "Tu Senora," or "your wife."
Other relatives have been squabbling over who should get the miners' paychecks during the weeks or months it may take to rescue them.
The situation has forced the local government to take a few measures. The miners have been asked to send up a note designating who could get their $1,600 (800,000 peso) salary for August. And social workers have been brought in to sort out who gets boxes of food and other donated goods.
%@AP Links
Sound:
<<CUT …113 (09/05/10)>> 00:11 "between different people"
Peter Prengaman
AP Correspondent Peter Prengaman reports there have been family feuds among the relatives of the miners over the workers' salaries.
<<CUT …114 (09/05/10)>> 00:16 "is about $400"
Peter Prengaman
AP Correspondent Peter Prengaman reports Chilean authorities are taking steps to protect the miners' money.
<<CUT …115 (09/05/10)>> 00:13 "get the salary"
Peter Prengaman
AP Correspondent Peter Prengaman reports a common law wife and her mother-in-law who have been feuding for years barely acknowledge each other at the mine.
<<CUT …116 (09/05/10)>> 00:08 "coming every day"
Peter Prengaman
AP Correspondent Peter Prengaman reports authorities are trying to settle the dispute.
<<GRAPHICSBANK 1088647 (08/28/10)>> 2000x1500
Trapped miners inside the San Jose mine, Copiapo, Chile, on mine texture, partial graphic
<<GRAPHICSBANK 1088991 (09/02/10)>> 1500x1125
Trapped miner holds Chilean flag, at San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile, on texture, partial graphic
<<APPHOTO MMS110 (09/05/10)>>
: Men work on a newly arrived drill that will be used in the rescue operation of 33 trapped miners in the collapsed San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile, Sunday Sept. 5, 2010. The thirty-three miners have been trapped deep underground in the copper and gold mine since it collapsed on Aug. 5.
<<APPHOTO MMS104 (09/05/10)>>
: Margarita Segovia, sister of of trapped miner Dario Segovia, walks holding a Chilean flag outside the collapsed San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2010. The thirty-three miners have been trapped deep underground in the copper and gold mine since it collapsed on Aug. 5, a month ago.
<<APPHOTO MMS106 (09/05/10)>>
: Monica Quispe, wife of Bolivian trapped miner Carlos Mamani, holds their baby next to a Bolivian flag outside the collapsed San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2010. The thirty-three miners have been trapped deep underground in the copper and gold mine since it collapsed on Aug. 5, a month ago.
<<APPHOTO MMS103 (09/05/10)>>
: Gilberto Espinace, relative of trapped miner Mario Sepulveda, talks on a mobile phone outside the collapsed San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2010. The thirty-three miners have been trapped deep underground in the copper and gold mine since it collapsed on Aug. 5, a month ago.
<<APPHOTO MMS102 (09/05/10)>>
: Relatives of trapped miners have breakfast next to religious images outside the collapsed San Jose mine in Copiapo, Chile, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2010. The thirty-three miners have been trapped deep underground in the copper and gold mine since it collapsed on Aug. 5, a month ago.
