Chile's San José mine collapsed despite known safety lapses — 33 men survived 69 days

On 5 August 2010, the San José copper-gold mine near Copiapó, Chile, partially collapsed, trapping 33 miners about 700 metres underground. For 17 days nobody knew whether the men were alive; they survived in a refuge until a borehole reached them, and on 13 October 2010 all 33 were winched to the surface after 69 days.

The mine was operated by San Esteban Mining, whose owners denied responsibility; a family lawsuit accused the owners of safety lapses and the state mine service, Sernageomin, of negligently allowing the mine to reopen in 2008 after it was shut following an accident. A judge froze $1.8m of the company's assets as possible compensation.

President Piñera promised sweeping workplace-safety reform, said an investigation had been opened, and said the government would try to pass the rescue cost — estimated at $10–20m — on to the mine owners. In August 2013, regional prosecutors closed the criminal case, saying there was not enough evidence to file charges; miners said they would appeal, arguing the collapse was caused by negligence, not nature.

The collapse trapped 33 miners for 69 days; the rescue cost an estimated $10–20M, and a judge froze $1.8M of the operator's assets while families sued for negligence.

San José had been shut after an earlier accident and then allowed to reopen in 2008 — the instability pattern was already documented

The operator's safety record and rock-support practices were not adequate for a mine that kept producing incidents

Sernageomin inspectors authorised the reopening and did not catch the conditions that led to the August 2010 collapse

The mine had no robust system to locate or protect the crew once the ground gave way — the men owed their lives to a rescue, not the design

A mine that has already failed once is a warning, not a settled account. San José was reopened after a 2007 accident and collapsed again in 2010. Treat prior incidents as evidence.

The rescue made global headlines and became a case study in crisis management, while the criminal investigation ended without charges in 2013; the miners' families pursued civil action. The government promised sweeping workplace-safety reform, and the disaster reshaped how Chile inspected and operated its mines.