A drilling operation to reach 33 trapped miners in Chile is making steady progress. But there are growing concerns about the mental health of the group who have now been underground for more than a month.

Experts from a NASA team sent to assist say the miners will have to form a community to organise their lives, as they face a long wait before being rescued.

NASA psychologist, Albert Holland said: “We have to expect though, that they are going to have their ups and downs, just like we do. We have good days. We have bad days. They are going to have good days. They are going to have bad days. And the important thing is that we allow that to happen. We do not make too big of a deal about small things”.

One of the miners’ is former Chilean international footballer, Franklin Lobos, so last night’s match against Ukraine was eagerly awaited. The miners were able to follow the game live thanks to a fibre-optic transmission shown on a project screen. Sadly for them, though, Chile lost the game in Kiev 2-1.

But they will have time to re-live the match as it could be two months before the rescue effort is complete.

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