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0 / 28 Fotos
Atacama, Chile
- The 2010 ordeal of 33 Chilean miners who were trapped inside a collapsed San José mine was followed closely around the world.
© Getty Images
1 / 28 Fotos
Atacama, Chile - After being trapped for 69 days, the miners were successfully rescued. Over one billion people tuned in to watch the rescue, which then became immortalized in the movie 'The 33.'
© BrunoPress
2 / 28 Fotos
Chiang Rai, Thailand - In 2018, people all across Thailand and the world were relieved to learn that 12 boys and their soccer coach were found alive after missing for nine days.
© Reuters
3 / 28 Fotos
Chiang Rai, Thailand - The group had become trapped in a flooded cave at the Tham Luang cave complex. They were found by British rescue divers during a search operation that involved more than 1,000 people. A video shows the moment the divers found the then-25-year-old coach and the boys, who were all aged between 11 and 16.
© Reuters
4 / 28 Fotos
Annapurna, The Himalayas - In April 2010, the highest-ever rescue happened on Annapurna (the world's tenth-highest peak), after three Spanish climbers were stranded at 2,2800 ft (6,950 m).
© BrunoPress
5 / 28 Fotos
Annapurna, The Himalayas - The climbers were airlifted to safety after pilot Captain Daniel Aufdenblatten dropped a long line from the helicopter, and guide Richard Lehner hung to it and helped the climbers below. The pair later won the Heroism Award.
© Reuters
6 / 28 Fotos
Port-au-Prince, Haiti - The 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010 devastated the capital Port-au-Prince and affected the lives of millions of people. One of the most surprising rescues took place 15 days after the quake struck.
© BrunoPress
7 / 28 Fotos
Port-au-Prince, Haiti - After a man heard moaning from a pile of rubble, rescuers dug a trench until they found 16-year-old Darlene Etienne stuck under a piece of metal. Etienne said she had been conscious the whole time.
© BrunoPress
8 / 28 Fotos
New York, USA - In what has been considered one of the most successful water landings in history, Captain Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger managed to land on the Hudson River with 150 people aboard.
© Reuters
9 / 28 Fotos
New York, USA - The incredible landing happened only a few minutes after the plane took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport and was hit by a flock of geese. Everybody aboard the aircraft survived, and the event was portrayed in the film 'Sully,' starring Tom Hanks.
© Reuters
10 / 28 Fotos
Apollo 13 - "Houston, we've had a problem here"—who could ever forget the iconic words exchanged between astronaut John "Jack" Swigert and the NASA Mission Control Center after the Apollo 13 crew heard an explosion noise?
© Public Domain
11 / 28 Fotos
Apollo 13 - In April 1970, the mission headed to the Moon came to a stall after an oxygen tank ruptured. The crafty astronauts managed to temporarily repair the carbon dioxide removal system and safely land in the South Pacific.
© Public Domain
12 / 28 Fotos
Tehran, Iran - In 1979, thousands of Iranians stormed the US embassy and took dozens of Americans hostage for 444 days. Luckily, six American diplomats managed to evade capture.
© Public Domain
13 / 28 Fotos
Tehran, Iran
- The CIA then came up with an elaborate plan, which involved the six diplomats pretending to be filmmakers working on a sci-fi movie called 'Argo.' Their excuse was that they were in Iran scouting for locations.
© Getty Images
14 / 28 Fotos
Tehran, Iran - They successfully managed to exit the country with fake passports, and the whole ordeal was brought to the big screen by actor-director Ben Affleck in the movie 'Argo,' which won three Oscars.
© Reuters
15 / 28 Fotos
New Orleans, USA - Deadly Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, killing over 1,000 people and leaving many more without a home.
© Reuters
16 / 28 Fotos
New Orleans, USA - The US Coast Guard worked tirelessly in the months that followed the tragic August 25, 2005 day. In the end, more than 5,000 rescuers saved over 33,000 lives.
© Reuters
17 / 28 Fotos
Texas, USA - Jessica McClure was 18 months old when she fell into a well in her aunt's backyard on October 14, 1987. For the next 58 hours, rescuers drilled a tunnel across the well to free the child.
© Public Domain
18 / 28 Fotos
Texas, USA
- The whole odyssey prompted 24-hour live coverage on CNN, with millions of people all around the US tuning in to see the latest updates. The two-day drama ended when baby Jessica was finally rescued.
© Getty Images
19 / 28 Fotos
The Andes, Chile - On October 13, 1972, a plane flying from Montevideo, Uruguay to Santiago, Chile crashed in the Andes after being hit by bad weather. More than a quarter of the passengers died, and the survivors had to resort to cannibalism.
© Public Domain
20 / 28 Fotos
The Andes, Chile - Survivors Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa (pictured) braved the mountains to find help. On December 22, they came back with a rescue party and all 16 survivors made it to the hospital.
© Public Domain
21 / 28 Fotos
Nantucket Island, North Atlantic - In 1956, Italian luxury liner SS Andrea Doria collided with the MS Stockholm while carrying around 1,700 people.
© Public Domain
22 / 28 Fotos
Nantucket Island, North Atlantic - The passengers immediately evacuated to the Stockholm and other nearby ships that had heard the distress calls. The Andrea Doria dramatically sunk, but there were only 46 fatalities.
© Public Domain
23 / 28 Fotos
Cabanatuan, Philippines
- This complex World War II mission saw 121 volunteer US Army Rangers set out to rescue more than 500 allied prisoners of war from the Cabanatuan camp in the Philippines.
© Getty Images
24 / 28 Fotos
Cabanatuan, Philippines
- The Rangers launched a surprise attack on the Japanese in January 1945, and managed to free hundreds of soldiers with minimal casualties.
© Getty Images
25 / 28 Fotos
Somalia - On April 8, 2009, four Somali pirates seized the ship MV Maersk Alabama, capturing Captain Richard Phillips and taking him on a lifeboat as hostage, in what would become a four-day nightmare.
© Public Domain
26 / 28 Fotos
Somalia
- On April 12, Navy Seal snipers waiting in a nearby US warship determined the captain's life was at risk when they allegedly spotted one of the pirates pointing an AK-47 at him, and fired at the kidnappers. Captain Philips was rescued unharmed. Guess what? Besides Captain Sully, Tom Hanks also played Captain Philips. Find out more about those roles here.
© Public Domain
27 / 28 Fotos
© Reuters
0 / 28 Fotos
Atacama, Chile
- The 2010 ordeal of 33 Chilean miners who were trapped inside a collapsed San José mine was followed closely around the world.
© Getty Images
1 / 28 Fotos
Atacama, Chile - After being trapped for 69 days, the miners were successfully rescued. Over one billion people tuned in to watch the rescue, which then became immortalized in the movie 'The 33.'
© BrunoPress
2 / 28 Fotos
Chiang Rai, Thailand - In 2018, people all across Thailand and the world were relieved to learn that 12 boys and their soccer coach were found alive after missing for nine days.
© Reuters
3 / 28 Fotos
Chiang Rai, Thailand - The group had become trapped in a flooded cave at the Tham Luang cave complex. They were found by British rescue divers during a search operation that involved more than 1,000 people. A video shows the moment the divers found the then-25-year-old coach and the boys, who were all aged between 11 and 16.
© Reuters
4 / 28 Fotos
Annapurna, The Himalayas - In April 2010, the highest-ever rescue happened on Annapurna (the world's tenth-highest peak), after three Spanish climbers were stranded at 2,2800 ft (6,950 m).
© BrunoPress
5 / 28 Fotos
Annapurna, The Himalayas - The climbers were airlifted to safety after pilot Captain Daniel Aufdenblatten dropped a long line from the helicopter, and guide Richard Lehner hung to it and helped the climbers below. The pair later won the Heroism Award.
© Reuters
6 / 28 Fotos
Port-au-Prince, Haiti - The 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010 devastated the capital Port-au-Prince and affected the lives of millions of people. One of the most surprising rescues took place 15 days after the quake struck.
© BrunoPress
7 / 28 Fotos
Port-au-Prince, Haiti - After a man heard moaning from a pile of rubble, rescuers dug a trench until they found 16-year-old Darlene Etienne stuck under a piece of metal. Etienne said she had been conscious the whole time.
© BrunoPress
8 / 28 Fotos
New York, USA - In what has been considered one of the most successful water landings in history, Captain Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger managed to land on the Hudson River with 150 people aboard.
© Reuters
9 / 28 Fotos
New York, USA - The incredible landing happened only a few minutes after the plane took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport and was hit by a flock of geese. Everybody aboard the aircraft survived, and the event was portrayed in the film 'Sully,' starring Tom Hanks.
© Reuters
10 / 28 Fotos
Apollo 13 - "Houston, we've had a problem here"—who could ever forget the iconic words exchanged between astronaut John "Jack" Swigert and the NASA Mission Control Center after the Apollo 13 crew heard an explosion noise?
© Public Domain
11 / 28 Fotos
Apollo 13 - In April 1970, the mission headed to the Moon came to a stall after an oxygen tank ruptured. The crafty astronauts managed to temporarily repair the carbon dioxide removal system and safely land in the South Pacific.
© Public Domain
12 / 28 Fotos
Tehran, Iran - In 1979, thousands of Iranians stormed the US embassy and took dozens of Americans hostage for 444 days. Luckily, six American diplomats managed to evade capture.
© Public Domain
13 / 28 Fotos
Tehran, Iran
- The CIA then came up with an elaborate plan, which involved the six diplomats pretending to be filmmakers working on a sci-fi movie called 'Argo.' Their excuse was that they were in Iran scouting for locations.
© Getty Images
14 / 28 Fotos
Tehran, Iran - They successfully managed to exit the country with fake passports, and the whole ordeal was brought to the big screen by actor-director Ben Affleck in the movie 'Argo,' which won three Oscars.
© Reuters
15 / 28 Fotos
New Orleans, USA - Deadly Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, killing over 1,000 people and leaving many more without a home.
© Reuters
16 / 28 Fotos
New Orleans, USA - The US Coast Guard worked tirelessly in the months that followed the tragic August 25, 2005 day. In the end, more than 5,000 rescuers saved over 33,000 lives.
© Reuters
17 / 28 Fotos
Texas, USA - Jessica McClure was 18 months old when she fell into a well in her aunt's backyard on October 14, 1987. For the next 58 hours, rescuers drilled a tunnel across the well to free the child.
© Public Domain
18 / 28 Fotos
Texas, USA
- The whole odyssey prompted 24-hour live coverage on CNN, with millions of people all around the US tuning in to see the latest updates. The two-day drama ended when baby Jessica was finally rescued.
© Getty Images
19 / 28 Fotos
The Andes, Chile - On October 13, 1972, a plane flying from Montevideo, Uruguay to Santiago, Chile crashed in the Andes after being hit by bad weather. More than a quarter of the passengers died, and the survivors had to resort to cannibalism.
© Public Domain
20 / 28 Fotos
The Andes, Chile - Survivors Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa (pictured) braved the mountains to find help. On December 22, they came back with a rescue party and all 16 survivors made it to the hospital.
© Public Domain
21 / 28 Fotos
Nantucket Island, North Atlantic - In 1956, Italian luxury liner SS Andrea Doria collided with the MS Stockholm while carrying around 1,700 people.
© Public Domain
22 / 28 Fotos
Nantucket Island, North Atlantic - The passengers immediately evacuated to the Stockholm and other nearby ships that had heard the distress calls. The Andrea Doria dramatically sunk, but there were only 46 fatalities.
© Public Domain
23 / 28 Fotos
Cabanatuan, Philippines
- This complex World War II mission saw 121 volunteer US Army Rangers set out to rescue more than 500 allied prisoners of war from the Cabanatuan camp in the Philippines.
© Getty Images
24 / 28 Fotos
Cabanatuan, Philippines
- The Rangers launched a surprise attack on the Japanese in January 1945, and managed to free hundreds of soldiers with minimal casualties.
© Getty Images
25 / 28 Fotos
Somalia - On April 8, 2009, four Somali pirates seized the ship MV Maersk Alabama, capturing Captain Richard Phillips and taking him on a lifeboat as hostage, in what would become a four-day nightmare.
© Public Domain
26 / 28 Fotos
Somalia
- On April 12, Navy Seal snipers waiting in a nearby US warship determined the captain's life was at risk when they allegedly spotted one of the pirates pointing an AK-47 at him, and fired at the kidnappers. Captain Philips was rescued unharmed. Guess what? Besides Captain Sully, Tom Hanks also played Captain Philips. Find out more about those roles here.
© Public Domain
27 / 28 Fotos
The most insane rescue missions in modern history
How did they pull these off?
© Reuters
Every day around the world, people find themselves in dangerous situations created by diverse reasons including natural disasters, terrorism, or even human mistakes. And while a rescue mission's goal is to save lives, it often involves risk for rescuers. Click through the following gallery to see the greatest rescue missions of all time.
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