AFP reported that the trapped Chilean miners contemplated suicide and were days away from cannibalism before rescuers made contact with them.

Veteran American journalist Mr Jonathan Franklin writes in 33 Men that nearly all of the miners have suffered from post traumatic stress disorder since being rescued after 69 days deep underground. They had to survive on dwindling rations of tuna in the first 16 days after the mine collapsed.

Mr Mario Sepulveda told CBS television's 60 Minutes that "Food or no food, I was going to get out of there. How? I had to think about which miner was going to collapse first and then I started thinking about how I was going to eat him. I promise you, I wasn't embarrassed. I wasn't scared."

But on the 17th day, rescuers made contact when a drill punched through the ceiling of the shaft in the San Jose Mine.

Mr Franklin said that "They told me they had a pot and a saw ready."

Mr Victor Zamora said that he and the other miners became so desperate that they strongly considered taking their own lives. He added that "Well, if we're going to continue suffering, it would be better for us to all go to the shelter, start an engine and with the carbon monoxide just let ourselves go."

Mr Zamora said that he did not consider it as suicide. He added that "It was to not continue suffering. We were going to die anyway."

Their dramatic rescue captivated the world as it was beamed on live television across the globe.

Mr Franklin, who has worked in Chile for the past 16 years, had exclusive access to the miners and interviewed all 33 of them for his book.

(Sourced from AFP)