UN congratulates Chilean prez for miners' rescue

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday congratulated President Sebastian Pinera of Chile for the successful operation to rescue the 33 miners who survived for more than two months in a collapsed mine.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday congratulated President Sebastian Pinera of Chile for the successful operation to rescue the 33 miners who survived for more than two months in a collapsed mine.

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Ban spoke by telephone with Pinera "to offer his warmest wishes following the safe rescue of 33 Chilean miners and congratulate the president for his tireless efforts", a UN spokesman said.

"The secretary general joined with the people of Chile and the families of the heroic miners to celebrate what he called the 'extraordinary triumph of human ingenuity and the strength of the human spirit'," Martin Nesirky said.

"They worked together and never gave up, and we can all learn from their bravery and perseverance," Nesirky quoted Ban as saying.