Nearly three dozen Chilean miners successfully survived even as they remained trapped a couple of thousand feet under the Earth for more than two months.

The San José Mine's collapse on August 5, 2010, hit news headlines around the world as 33 men were trapped underground.

Author Héctor Tobar has described the ordeal of the 33 miners in his new book "Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free."

The book describes that the miners were working around 2,000 feet below the earth's surface, when they heard a big explosion that created envelop of dust around them. Later they found that they were totally trapped and could not get out of that place.

Luckily, there was some food available with them. The inventory included just one can of salmon, one can of peas, one can of peaches, eighteen cans of tuna, 24 liters of condensed milk, and 93 packages of cookies. But, some of those eatables had already expired. As far as water was concerned, they had only 10 bottles of the essential beverage. Although there were thousands of liters dirty water that was used to cool engines of their machinery. But, even that dirty water played a key role in keeping those trapped miners alive. Judicious use the food and water kept them alive more than two months under the earth. All of the 33 trapped miners were successfully rescued after 69 days. But, their ribs that had started sticking through their skin were enough to tell their ordeal.