Found Deceased Spain - Julen Rosello, 2, fell into narrow and deep borehole, Totalán, 13 Jan 2019

[Lexiintoronto]

#RescateJulen| The commander of the Guardia Civil of the group of explosive Tedax, Miguel Ángel Albéniz, has confirmed to the
@laSextaTV
live that the detonation is going to be imminent.

@SURDirecto

New complications in the rescue of #Julen. The hardness of the last section of the gallery they are digging #mineros forces them to make a fourth microflight.
@MiriamMoreno_ed tells #EDirecto us #Totalán #Málaga

Estimated 2 more hours

 

[MsFacetious]

SUR live @ SURDirect2m 2 minutes ago
# RescateJulen | The commander of # Tedax did not want to detail exactly how many centimeters are left: "It is less than one meter".

 

[Mom24]

Should be more explosions in the coming few minutes. Something about going millimeters at a time, not sure if they mean digging by hand or with the explosives.

 

[Elainera]

Okay I'm going to run my errands now since it appears we have another couple of hours, plus then time to meet with the parents before any announcements are made.

Me too. And charge my phone!

 

[Janeumayer]

Don’t know why the news keep posting the term microvoladuras but it means micro-explosions in English.

 

[123spain]

Don’t know why the news keep posting the term microvoladuras but it means micro-explosions in English.

Yes you are right. i didnt know the term in english, its not a word you usually learn.

 

[Hatfield]

Don’t know why the news keep posting the term microvoladuras but it means micro-explosions in English.

Here is a short video taken somewhere else that shows what the small explosion "microvoladuras" looks like

 

[SunVenus]

Don’t know why the news keep posting the term microvoladuras but it means micro-explosions in English.

Catering to an international audience would be my guess. The micro-explosions seems necessary as they are blasting across and a bit up to where the plug (and perhaps #Julen) are located. I think @Hatfield could enlighten us-- that rock (shale? schist? I dunno but hard) is a tough nut to crack; can't simply be dug though like common garden soil. And I think they have to shore up any horizontal areas so they don't collapse on the miners.

 

[scandinavian girl]

Julen por tu y tus familia, (for you and and your family)

ETA the title Hijo de la luna ( son of the moon)

 

[Steelslady]

Well, Casey had a rainbow, and according to the caption under this photo, it appears that a rainbow occurred before the rescuers went in to help find Julen, so I am going to post that photo here- maybe it will bring a similar outcome for Julen like it did Casey:

Rescuers start last phase of operation to find boy trapped in well ...
Agencia EFE
A rainbow crosses the sky over the excavation works to rescue a two-year old

 

[SunVenus]

Julen por tu y tus familia, (for you and and your family)

ETA the title Hijo de la luna ( son of the moon)

Heavenly! Thank you!

 

[Jackielee09]

Prayers they find him any minute. The parents must be in agony.

 

[Steelslady]

Me too. And charge my phone!

Myself as well- must go shopping. Maybe an early birthday gift would be to find this darling alive. That would be wonderful! I will check back later as soon as I can, praying all along for Julen, his family, and the rescuers.

 

[crhedBngr]

Many, many prayers.

 

[SunVenus]

Julen por tu y tus familia, (for you and and your family)

ETA the title Hijo de la luna ( son of the moon)

His voice is heavenly. Absolutely gorgeous! Let's all hold on to that beauty as we send our best energies to #Julen's family and the rescuers.

 

[cynsational]

20:05 Obviously the parents of Julen will be the first to know any news or important news that occurs. For the moment the ordeal will be extended almost until midnight, in what seemed like it could be resolved this afternoon after 12 days of rescue.

Julen | Sigue en directo la última fase del rescate en Totalán ( Málaga)

 

[Lexiintoronto]

Here is a short video taken somewhere else that shows what the small explosion "microvoladuras" looks like

Thank you for that video. It made my heart stop.

I can’t imagine doing such precise demanding dangerous work running against time.

..And then on your back, lifting heavy boulders over your stomach.

 

[Jackielee09]

Myself as well- must go shopping. Maybe an early birthday gift would be to find this darling alive. That would be wonderful! I will check back later as soon as I can, praying all along for Julen, his family, and the rescuers.

Yes we need another FOUND ALIVE on WS. What a celebration that would be.

 

[Mom24]

Roca dura en el último tramo obliga a una cuarta microvoladura para llegar a Julen
This article goes into explaining that due to the hardness of the rock, the pnuematic diggers, hatchets and shovels they were using aren't able to get through, so the decision was made to use more explosives. The additional choppers we saw moving in were carrying those explosives as well as explosive's experts. The issue is that each detonation causes a 2 hour delay in excavation: they have to set the explosives, get all the workers out and then wait about 40 mins for the air to clear which adds in total about 2 hours of a delay. It sounds like they keep hitting these veins of really hard rock and have to stop and use explosives, which keeps slowing down the excavation. It also sounds like they're hoping this is the final bit of that hard rock they will need to blast through.

 

[Hatfield]

To explain why the sideways tunneling is harder than going straight down.

When they dug the 2nd hole they used a drilling rig truck that had all the drilling equipment and drill pipe column to go straight down.

Going sideways in this last phase is a whole different animal. The workers basically had to use special hand tools like jackhammers and maybe a hydraulic water drill which can drill through rock using a fine high speed jet of water that can cut through the rock.

It is a slow process because they dont have the luxury of the drilling rig truck that was used before to go straight down. This is why they are also using small explosions to break apart the rock and it makes their efforts easier to go sideways.

Someone earlier shared a link that indicated the hard rock that they have to go through is Quartzite which is a hard rock to get through.

Quartzite is described below:

"Hardness In its pure form, quartzite can at times be harder than granite. However, since it goes through compression with sandstone and other minerals, there is often variation in the stones hardness. Some quartzites can be harder than granite and others can be soft as marble."

https://ariastonegallery.com/what-is-quartzite/