Trapped Chilean Miners Rebel

They return peaches, demand empanadas
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 6, 2010 2:46 PM CDT
Trapped Chilean Miners Rebel
An image made from a video released by Television Nacional de Chile via the Chilean government Thursday Aug. 26, 2010, shows one of the trapped miners in the underground chamber waving at the camera.   (AP Photo/Television Nacional de Chile)

One month into their ordeal, the 33 trapped Chilean miners are starting to act a wee bit like divas, in recent days refusing to accept a customized board game because it contained spelling errors, returning peaches, and repeatedly requesting wine, cigarettes, and empanadas. They're also acting a bit like rebels, continuing to drive the mining vehicles through the underground maze though they have been asked not to. "As the men get better, they get more demanding," says an engineer working on the rescue op.

And they aren't the only ones who are lashing out: The miners' families, who were told that only positive letters would be sent to the men, are complaining that the government is censoring and losing their correspondence, reports the Washington Post. "They are not sending the letters to him," says the son of a trapped miner. "He is going to blow up down there." (More trapped miners stories.)

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