Miners return to San José for a service of thanks

Under the circumstances, they would be forgiven for never wanting to set foot at the San José mine again.

But some of the 33 men rescued after 69 days trapped underground have returned to the site of their ordeal to give thanks for their rescue.

The police had to step in to restore order after the men were surrounded by huge crowds.

The experience has turned them into unlikely celebrities:

“We did not go looking for fame,” one of the men, Juan Carlos Aguilar, told reporters. “We are still miners, we are one with our colleagues.”

Aguilar also went to the site of Camp Hope, where the men’s families maintained a vigil during the ordeal.

And they are not the only ones happy with the outcome. 84 percent of Chileans approve of the way President Sebastian Pinera handled the crisis, according to a poll.

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