After more than two weeks of being supplied with oxygen, dry snacks and water through a pipe, all 41 men trapped in a collapsed tunnel in India have been safely rescued.
The final section of debris was drilled by hand before the men were taken to the local hospital in 17 ambulances – they are said to be in good health.
The rescue effort began after a landslide caused part of the Silkyara tunnel in the Himalayas to collapse on November 12. After making contact and communicating with them via walkie talkies, rescuers had a number of failed attempts to reach the men – in a story that has gripped the world.
The photos and videos of the smiling men being greeted by cheers and flower garlands was the welcomed outcome on November 28. The group, who are mainly in their 20s, were finally rescued one by one on a wheeled stretcher pulled through a 30cm (3ft) wide pipe that had been pushed through the 60 meters of debris.
The pipe had been inserted by people trained in narrow tunnel navigation, who had been specially brought in. This was the fourth attempt to rescue the trapped workers. Initially, the first plan to dig through the debris using excavators was abandoned because of rocks and metal.
A US-made augur machine was then flown in to dig through the debris – it made good progress, but broke down several times and finally stopped working altogether with around 200 meters to go.
Another plan was to vertically dig into the debris and create another escape route. In the meantime, they also inserted a wider pipe into the blocked tunnel to give the men hot food, medicines and other necessities.
When the US augur machine broke down and could no longer be used as part of the rescue, they began to manually dig through the remaining 200 meters of debris.
In a statement, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the workers their “courage and patience” was inspiring everyone. The Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district is part of the federal government’s highway project to improve connectivity to famous pilgrimage spots in Uttarakhand. The area is home to some of the holiest sites for Hindus.
