Fury of a woman scorned…

IN MORE ways than one,miner Yonni Barrios has been caught between a rock and a hard place.

Waiting on the surface have been both his wife of 28 years and his long-standing mistress - his "pit on the side", as she has been dubbed by the media.

After years of keeping his adultery hidden, the truth came out when both women began attending a prayer vigil at the scene.

Now Marta Salinas, his wife of 28 years, has refused to greet him when he becomes the 20th miner to be rescued from the San Jos copper mine, expected to be in the early hours today. She discovered the affair when It emerged that Susana Valenzuela had been attending prayer vigils for him since the 5 August accident.

Ms Salinas, pictured, said: "I am happy because he made it - it's a miracle of God - but I'm not going to see the rescue. He asked me to, but he also asked the other lady, and I am a decent woman. Things are clear: It's her or me.

"I won't even watch it on TV. In phone conversations and in the letters he has sent me it's clear that he is fine, and that's enough for me."

Ms Salinas said her case was well known, even in the Chilean president's office, but she had been criticised for her stance. "But the First Lady (Cecilia Morel) told me my decision not to go was not bad, to just let her (Mr Barrios's lover) go," she said.