The world tuned in Wednesday night to watch what started off as a tragedy, but appeared headed for a happy ending. Thirty-three miners in Copiapo, Chile, began to emerge individually from the depths of the earth after nearly 70 days trapped underground.
As the capsule carrying one miner at a time slowly made its way from the bowels of the earth, families from as far away as Sri Lanka and China huddled around televisions, their eyes glued to the screen.
"I'm overwhelmed with happiness," Shari Atukorala said from Sri Lanka, tears rolling down her face as she watched the events unfold on CNN. "This is a very emotional moment."
"I can't help but think of my grandfather, Cristino, who was a silver miner in San Luis Potosi -- a state in the center-east of Mexico," he said in a submission to CNN's iReport. "My grandfather would be happy to have the focus on miners because the world rarely focuses on the dangerous conditions they work in."
With each miner's rescue, the world seemed to heave a collective sigh of relief.
"I mentioned on Twitter how, 41 years ago, the world watched men walk on the moon," said Connie Preti, a New York resident. "Today we are seeing men come out from the earth. It's equally striking."
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