Johannesburg, 10 September 2026: National Geographic is revisiting one of the most extraordinary rescue operations in modern history with Chilean Mine Rescue: Race Against Time, the story of 33 miners trapped nearly half a mile beneath Chile's Atacama Desert in 2010. What began as a devastating mine collapse became a 69-day fight for survival and an ambitious Chilean-led rescue effort supported by expertise from around the world. More than one billion people watched as the operation reached its dramatic conclusion. Produced by the Emmy Award-winning team at Blast Films, all three episodes will air back-to-back on Monday 28 September at 20:30 (CAT) on National Geographic (DStv 181, StarTimes 220) across Africa. The series will also be available on Disney+ in South Africa.

Chilean Mine Rescue: Race Against Time tells the story of endurance, ingenuity and improbable unity behind one of history's most challenging rescues ever attempted. It features never-before-seen cell phone footage filmed in the mine and includes powerful interviews with survivors, families and rescuers - some speaking publicly outside of local Chilean press for the first time - to tell the definitive story of the 69 days rescuers raced to save the trapped miners while the men underground fought to survive. Among those featured is Jeff Kofman, then ABC’s International Correspondent and the first international journalist on the scene, who reported from Chile as the rescue unfolded.

The series follows the miners from the moment of the collapse through the improvised order that took hold in the days underground to the engineering gamble that made the rescue possible and the fame and lasting toll that followed.

On 5 August 2010, a catastrophic collapse at the San José copper-gold mine in Chile sealed 33 miners underground. For 17 days, they were presumed dead. For 52 more, they waited while Chilean engineers and rescue teams, joined by drillers and specialists from around the world, attempted something that had never been done, as families above ground refused to leave. When the rescue capsule first surfaced, an estimated one billion people were watching - one of the largest live audiences in television history and a rare moment of shared hope across the world.

Chilean Mine Rescue: Race Against Time is the next installment in National Geographic’s Emmy®-winning “Race Against Time” franchise. Previous series include winner of the Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best Historical Documentary “Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time” and winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Historical Documentary “Tsunami: Race Against Time.”

Behind the series is Blast Films, producing for National Geographic with Tanya Winston, Shona Thompson and Danny Horan serving as executive producers. Luke Sewell is series editor, with Chloe Campbell and James Parris directing. For National Geographic, Tom McDonald serves as executive vice president of Content, Bengt Anderson as senior vice president Unscripted Production and Development, and Carolyn Payne as executive producer.

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