India tunnel collapse: India’s military brought in specialised equipment Sunday as efforts to free 41 trapped workers in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand entered a third week, with digging ongoing in three directions after repeated setbacks to the operation.
WATCH: Efforts to rescue 41 trapped workers continue
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Just a few metres of rock and earth separate Indian rescue teams from 41 workers who have been trapped inside a collapsed road tunnel for nearly two weeks, officials said Friday, vowing to get all the men out safely.
After a series of rapid advances, hopes that the men’s freedom was imminent were dashed late Wednesday when the drilling machine powering through tonnes of rock and concrete ran into metal rods, but those have now been cleared.
An AFP reporter could see sparks flying as workers in the entrance of the tunnel welded together the final sections of steel pipe, to make the tube that will provide a safe exit for the trapped workers.
Rescue teams have stretchers fitted with wheels ready to pull the exhausted men through 57 metres (187 feet) of pipe once it has been driven through the final section of rubble blocking their escape.
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“We have to (drill) 14 metres further inside the tunnel,” Bhaskar Khulbe, a senior government official overseeing rescue efforts, told reporters on Friday, adding that the “trapped workers are in good frame of mind”.
Officials have repeatedly predicted they were within a few hours of a breakthrough, but a government statement has also noted that any timeline is “subject to change due to technical glitches, the challenging Himalayan terrain, and unforeseen emergencies”.
Ambulances are on standby and a field hospital has been prepared to receive the men, who have been trapped since a portion of the under-construction Silkyara tunnel in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand caved in 13 days ago.
