Rescue Tunnel for Chile Miners Nears Completion

In Chile rescuers continue to drill ever-closer to the 33 men trapped deep inside a gold and copper mine.

CBS News correspondent Seth Doane reports from Chile that workers drilling the rescue tunnels are within a couple of hundred feet from the underground chamber where the miner have been since early August, and they're hopeful they could punch through to them as soon as today.

Mobile hospital units have been brought to the mine, as were parts for a giant crane to hoist up the miners.

Both arrivals heightened expectations here as three separate drills work non-stop to reach the men trapped underground.

Complete Coverage: Chile Mine Collapse

Excitement above ground continues to grow . . .

"There's not long to go now," said Marta Mesias, aunt of miner Claudio Yanhez.

Family members got a bit of a setback yesterday when they were told the miners would not be out by this weekend. Once the drill breaks through, it could take anywhere from three to 10 more days to pull the miners to safety.

Once the rescue begins, three paramedics from the Chilean Navy's special forces and 13 mining rescue experts will be lowered into the mine to aid in the rescue. They will determine the order in which the miners leave.

Whoever is first to go will be someone most emotionally able to handle a setback in case there is a problem.

All the miners will be brought to the surface wearing special sunglasses because their pupils have been continually dilated in the low light for 64 days, and exposure to the sun may damage their eyes.

"Every day we are doing a countdown," Chile's mining minister Laurence Golborne said.

Maria Segovia Rojo has been counting down since "the beginning," when she learned her brother was trapped. She has been camped out the foot of the mine.

"When you fight for someone," she said, "you have to be there day and night. They aren't going home to sleep. They are there."

So, she'll stay here, waiting . . . with the world watching on.