Thirty-three miners trapped in an underground "hell" for more than two months were being brought to the surface starting early Wednesday, after officials dropped a rescue worker in a capsule down to them.
The rescuer, Manuel Gonzalez, could be seen via a television camera set up in the mine arriving and embracing each of the shirtless miners who had been waiting for salvation for a record 68 days, ever since an August 5 cave-in.
The first miners chosen by officials to be brought to the surface, Florencio Avalos, was a 31-year-old father of two who was second-in-charge of the group.
He was due to be winched up in the specially built capsule sometime before 1:00 am (0400 GMT).
The other miners were then to follow, going up one by one through the narrow escape shaft drilled down to them last weekend that is barely as wide as a man's shoulders.
With each descent and ascent of the capsule expected to take around one hour, the entire operation was not expected to be complete until late Thursday.
Mining Minister Laurence Golborne had told reporters he hoped to see the first rescued miner on the surface before midnight Tuesday (0300 GMT Wednesday), but that was delayed by last-minute tests of communications and the capsule.
The miners were being hauled up 622 meters (2,041 feet) from a cavernous tunnel that has been the home for the past two months. They had described the dank, dark chamber in messages to their loved ones as a "hell."
President Sebastian Pinera marked the start of the rescue with a handshake to Gonzalez and congratulations to Golborne and other officials who were overseen the operation.
They all sang Chile's national anthem while the capsule was lowered. The cage, colored the red, white and blue of Chile's flag, was dubbed the "Phoenix" to represent the miners' "rebirth" as they were brought to the surface
The initial phase of the rescue was greeted with cheers and horns in Camp Hope, the tent city that relatives of the miners started soon after the mine's collapse.
The camp has since swelled several fold with the arrival of 2,000 journalists covering the historic rescue.
Relatives of Avalos said they believed his "very rational" demeanor and athleticism were probably the reason he was selected to come up first, because officials wanted a capable pioneer up the escape shaft.
"He is the strongest," his relieved mother, Maria Silva, told AFP, adding "I'm going to hug him and kiss him a lot" when he emerges.
Avalos will be leaving behind a brother, Renan, 29, among the other miners to be hauled up later.
The next to be rescued were to be Mario Sepulveda, 39, an electrical specialist, Juan Illanes, 52, and the sole Bolivian among the miners, Carlos Mamani, 23, according to the Chilean leader.
Pinera also said Bolivian President Evo Morales would be at the mine early Wednesday to welcome Mamani.
Golborne said the first four were considered the most capable of the miners to confront any problems they might encounter.
A total of five rescue specialists were being sent down to the miners in the cage to prepare the miners for their ride to salvation. They would be the last to leave the tunnel.
The imminent arrival of each miner on the surface was to be singaled by a blaring siren and flashing light that would also tell medical teams to be ready to greet the cage.
Despite the last-minute delays, officials were well in advance of their very first estimates of a rescue date, originally given as Christmas.
Faster-than-expected progress saw that deadline shaved to November, then finally October, confirmed when one of three rescue drills completed the escape shaft last weekend.
Each miner's ascent was to take a tense 15 to 20 minutes as the cage is winched up the equivalent height of two Eiffel Towers stacked on top of each other.
Another 25 to 30 minutes will be needed to drop the cage down the shaft again, with a little time required to strap each miner into the contraption, meaning a total of one hour was estimated for each man's salvation.
Each miner was to be greeted on the surface by up to three family members and waiting doctors before being flown to a regional hospital for at least two days of check-ups.
After being detected alive, against all odds, on August 22, the miners became the focus of national and international attention.
Chilean rescuers have worked furiously to save and sustain them, even asking for NASA's help.
Food, water, oxygen, entertainment and communication lines were dropped to them through probe holes to get them through their prolonged captivity in hot, dank conditions that they have described as "hell."
When all the miners make it to the surface, they will leave behind dark isolation for a blaze of publicity normally reserved for movie stars or sporting heroes.
Chilean media reports suggest the men are anticipating lucrative book and film deals that may limit what they end up saying to the waiting news media.