STEVE INSKEEP, Host: On a Monday morning and a holiday, it's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.</s>LINDA WERTHEIMER, Host: Annie Murphy is in Copiapo.</s>ANNIE MURPHY: Right now, there are about 2,500 people pressed together in the tiny camp near the mouth of the San Jose mine, just a speck in the middle of the Atacama Desert. But even with the influx of people, the energy here is noticeably brighter. Families are increasingly confident that their loved ones are going to get out. Everyone seems more laid back, like this group of kids playing volleyball.</s>ANNIE MURPHY: Camp coordinator, Pamela Leiva.</s>PALA LEIVA: (Spanish spoken)</s>ANNIE MURPHY: Marta Flores is with the Red Cross, and has been spending time with the families.</s>MARTA FLORES: (Spanish spoken)</s>ANNIE MURPHY: She says: They're getting their houses ready. Each of them will be waiting with their own sort of welcome. Those who are living in the camp are already packing up their things to leave. The families have a lot to organize for their trip home, says Flores, but that's not all.</s>MARTA FLORES: (Spanish spoken)</s>ANNIE MURPHY: Pamela Lobos is the niece of miner Franklin Lobos.</s>PAMELA LOBOS: (Spanish spoken)</s>ANNIE MURPHY: Pamela Lobos' sister, Patricia, is frustrated, and says this is an issue that affects a lot of miners.</s>PAMELA LOBOS: (Spanish spoken)</s>ANNIE MURPHY: For NPR News, this is Annie Murphy in Copiapo, Chile.
The first extractions of the 33 trapped miners in Chile are expected to begin on Wednesday as engineers and crews put the finishing touches on an escape shaft. The shaft was completed Saturday and rescuers determined only the top few hundred feet of the escape tunnel needed to be reinforced with a steel sleeve.