In SILKYARA, India, a rescue operation is underway to free 41 workers who have been stuck in a highway tunnel in the Indian Himalayas for two weeks, since it collapsed early on Nov. 12. Plans to extricate the workers using a heavy drill machine have been delayed as the machine was damaged and needs to be removed entirely from the site. The workers, who are construction workers from some of India’s poorest states, have been reported to be safe and have access to light, oxygen, food, water, and medicines.
Efforts to remove the workers will now involve manual drilling through the remaining debris after the damaged machine is removed. The machine, called an auger, broke at a joint on Friday when it was being pulled out from the 47-meter pipe used for the rescue operation.
Sunita Hembrom, the relative of one trapped worker, expressed concern for her brother-in-law who reported not eating any food since the day before. Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the tunnel collapse, but the region is known for being prone to landslides, earthquakes, and floods.
Rescuers have been practicing an evacuation plan that involves pulling the trapped men out of the tunnel via a wide pipe on wheeled stretchers. A second plan to drill vertically from the top of the hill is also being developed. The workers have been receiving cooked food and medical attention from a team of doctors, which includes psychiatrists. The collapsed tunnel is part of a prominent infrastructure project in India aimed at connecting several key Hindu pilgrimage sites.