Third Update, From The Himalayas -- Now Boring Down Vertically, In Two Spots -- As A Fail Safe: 41 Trapped Miners...

The rescue teams have now offered about 50 seconds of grainy video, shot with an endoscopic fiber-optical cam rig, through a pipe shoved horizontally through the collapse, at tunnel level, showing that the 41 men have food, water and medical supplies. In addition, given the girth of the tunnel, oxygen won't be a problem -- as there is over a half mile of open drift, and an open vent shaft.

But further to my comments / analysis of Sunday afternoon, the company has now started a SECOND vertical bore / drilled shaft, from above -- as a back up, just in case the one vent shaft they are widening should for any reason collapse in on itself.

This would imply that this first vent shaft is angled, not a pure 90 degree down drop (as coming into the tunnel obliquely would have been cheaper than a much longer vertical cut, when first opening the vent). Obviously, the second bore will almost certainly be at a right angle / pure vertical, so that men may be lifted out, one at a time (without dragging against a wall). And while company says it is hopeful for a breakthrough in 40 to 50 hours. . . I'll remain duly skeptical about that, given my sense of it.

No, my guess is at least another two weeks, for the new vertical shaft to reach them -- even if at a lower altitude on the mountain (less rock yardage to blast/drill through, than originally thought). So it may be less than a half mile of rock to move. In any event, here's the latest -- with updated graphic, from Reuters:

. . .The video was shot through a medical endoscopy camera that was pushed through a second, wider pipeline drilled through the debris on Monday, authorities said.

In the clip, the trapped men appeared to be doing fine, answering that they were all right in response to queries about their well-being, said one official in the rescue control room who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. . . .

"We might be able to get a breakthrough in the next 30-40 hours," Mahmood Ahmed, managing director of the state-run National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL), which is building the tunnel, told reporters. . . .

Onward -- keep a good thought for them --- and be excellent to one another. Happy Thanksgiving to all of good will!

नमस्ते