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BGTN > International > Tunnel collapse: Ambulances on standby as Indian rescuers near 41 trapped workers
International

Tunnel collapse: Ambulances on standby as Indian rescuers near 41 trapped workers

AFP
Last updated: November 23, 2023 7:42 am
By AFP
5 Min Read
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Paramedics wait near the tunnel where rescuers work on the final stage to reach workers trapped in the Silkyara road tunnel, days after it collapsed in the Uttarkashi district of India, on November 22, 2023. Indian rescuers have drilled two-thirds of the way through debris towards 41 workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel, warning that the next 24 hours could be critical, officials said on November 22, 2023. (Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP)
Paramedics wait near the tunnel where rescuers work on the final stage to reach workers trapped in the Silkyara road tunnel, days after it collapsed in the Uttarkashi district of India. Photo: AFP.
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Tunnel collapse: Ambulances were on standby Thursday morning as Indian rescuers dug through the final metres of debris separating them from 41 workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel for nearly two weeks.

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WATCH: Tunnel collapse: workers seen on camera‘War footing’Tough rescue

Emergency vehicles and a field hospital stood ready, AFP journalists at the site said, preparing to receive the men who authorities hope will soon be freed from the tunnel in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

Engineers have been digging for days to drive a steel pipe through some 57 metres (187 feet) of earth, concrete and rubble that has divided the trapped men from freedom since a portion of the under-construction tunnel caved in on November 12.

After days of painfully slow progress, engineers with a powerful drilling machine made a sudden rapid advance on Wednesday, before being slowed with just 12 metres (39 feet) to go after metal rods blocked the route.

ALSO READ: Himalayan Highway Tunnel collapse: Heavy machinery brought to remove trapped workers

WATCH: Tunnel collapse: workers seen on camera

‘War footing’

But after workers through the night crouched in the narrow area cut through the metal rods, the route was reopened for the earth-boring machine to drill the final section, Praveen Yadav, one of the rescue team told reporters on Thursday morning.

“We have cut and cleared the way,” he said, adding the drill would restart to make the hoped for final push.

Rescuers are hoping for a breakthrough within hours, although the government has also repeatedly warned any timelines were “subject to change due to technical glitches, the challenging Himalayan terrain, and unforeseen emergencies”.

Inside the Silkyara tunnel entrance, an AFP journalist said the site was a flurry of activity.

Worried relatives have gathered outside the site, where a Hindu shrine has been erected, with a priest holding prayers for the safe rescue of the trapped men.

“The day they will come out of the tunnel, it will be the biggest, happiest day for us,” said Chanchal Singh Bisht, 35, whose 24-year-old cousin Pushkar Singh Ary is trapped inside.

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the work was on a “war footing”.

Rescue workers stand at an entrance of the under construction road tunnel, days after it collapsed in the Uttarkashi district of India's Uttarakhand state on November 18, 2023. Indian rescuers said on November 18, they had paused efforts to reach 41 men trapped in a collapsed road tunnel after a cracking sound created a "panic situation" over the possibility of a further cave-in.
Tunnel collapse: Rescue workers stand at an entrance of the under construction road tunnel, days after it collapsed in the Uttarkashi district of India’s Uttarakhand state on November 18, 2023. Photo: AFP.

ALSO READ: Himalayan Highway Tunnel collapse: Rescuers to dig new shaft for 41 men trapped for nine days

Tough rescue

Rescue efforts have been hampered by falling debris as well as repeated breakdowns of crucial heavy-drilling machines.

In case the route through the main tunnel entrance does not work, blasting and drilling were also begun from the far end of the unfinished tunnel, nearly half a kilometre (over a quarter of a mile) long.

Preparations have also been made for a risky vertical shaft directly above.

The workers were seen alive for the first time on Tuesday, peering into the lens of an endoscopic camera sent by rescuers down a thin pipe through which air, food, water and electricity are being delivered.

Though trapped, they have plenty of space, with the area inside 8.5 metres high and stretching about two kilometres in length.

The tunnel is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s infrastructure project aimed at cutting travel times between some of the most popular Hindu sites in the country, as well as improving access to strategic areas bordering rival China.

But experts have warned about the impact of extensive construction in Uttarakhand, large parts of which are prone to landslides.

NOW WATCH: India tunnel collapse, workers trapped inside for ten days seen on camera

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