SANTIAGO, CHILE (BNO NEWS) – Chile mine owners on Tuesday that own the mine where 33 miners are trapped 2,300 feet underground asked for forgiveness and apologized to the miners and their families for ignoring safety regulations, BBC reported.

CEO of the San Esteban mining group, Alejandro Bohn, asked for forgiveness for the “pain” caused by the decision of the mine to ignore safety regulations. Bohn said that he sought forgiveness for the incident, over three weeks after the mine has collapsed. “The pain caused by this unwanted and unforeseen situation means we must ask forgiveness for the anguish being felt at this time,” Bohn told a parliamentary mining committee looking into the incident. “This is a terrible situation, and we hope that it will soon come to a happy end.”

The apology comes after last Thursday, when a judge ordered the freezing of $1.8 billion in assets owned by the mining company as future compensation for the miners’ families. Relatives of the miners have sharply condemned the mine for ignoring safety guidelines, accusations which the owners denied.

A team of NASA experts have been brought in to aid the miners in the rescue that could take three to four months. The experts, which includes a doctor, nutritionist, engineer, and psychologist, instructed officials to be honest with the miners and not to give them “false hopes”.

Work on the relief shaft began on Monday in an attempt to free the men, all 33 of which remain trapped in a refuge chamber of the mine where the escaped to take shelter after a rock collapse on August 5.

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