Santiago, August 1, 2025.- Former Codelco CEO, former general manager of El Teniente and leader of the rescue of the 33 miners from the San José mine, André Sougarret, addressed this afternoon on Tele 13 Radio the situation facing the El Teniente Division after the accident that left one worker dead and five others trapped underground.

Sougarret, who today joined the El Teniente Division International Council, made up of world-class experts in underground mining, began by mourning the death of Paulo Marín Tapia, who lost his life in the incident, and expressed his solidarity with the families of those affected. "We hope everything turns out well and that the families can receive a quick response. We understand the anguish they are experiencing today," he said.

The engineer explained that the event did not correspond to a conventional collapse, but rather a "rock burst," a phenomenon characterized by the sudden loss of strength of the rock mass, releasing a large amount of energy. "This is not a simple block falling and cutting off an access. There was a larger-scale rupture here that affected several galleries in the mine," he noted.

The former executive emphasized that, thanks to the division's monitoring system, the location of the trapped workers is known, but access is blocked. Therefore, specialized teams have had to act cautiously, assessing the mine's seismic conditions before sending rescuers or remote-controlled equipment. "The first thing was to ensure there were no aftershocks. We have to wait for the hill to stabilize before entering safely," he explained.

Sougarret also highlighted Codelco's technical capabilities in dealing with this emergency. "El Teniente has one of the best seismic monitoring networks in the world, and the protocols are strict. I have no doubt that the teams working on the rescue today are the most qualified. Many of them participated in the rescue at the San José mine and have continued their training."

Regarding criticism from some union leaders of contract workers who maintain that there were warning signs prior to the accident that were ignored, Sougarret was emphatic: "I doubt there was any information that wasn't considered. This is a new phenomenon, in a deep-water area, which will likely require new measures and lessons learned for the future."

Finally, the former CEO of Codelco called for trust in the rescue teams and giving them the space to do their work. "We have to let them work. We have the best professionals and the best technology. Today, the most important thing is that they can move forward and provide answers to the families who are experiencing hours of profound anguish."

Codelco