All 41 Indian workers trapped in collapsed Himalayan tunnel for 17 days rescued
- The men were trapped on November 12, when a landslide caused a portion of the 4.5-kilometre tunnel they were building in Uttarakhand state to collapse
- The workers survived on food and oxygen supplied through narrow steel pipes
Indian rescuers have safely brought out all 41 workers from a collapsed Himalayan road tunnel after a marathon 17-day engineering operation to free them, a minister said on Tuesday.
“I am completely relieved and happy as 41 trapped labourers in the Silkyara Tunnel Collapse have been successfully rescued,” Minister of Road Transport Nitin Gadkari said in a statement.
“This was a well-coordinated effort by multiple agencies, marking one of the most significant rescue operations in recent years.”
Crowds cheered as emergency vehicles with lights flashing readied to leave the tunnel entrance, where the workers had been trapped since a portion of the under-construction tunnel in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand collapsed on November 12.
“An initial health check-up of all the workers is being done in the temporary medical camp built in the tunnel,” Uttarakhand state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said.
Relatives outside had already begun celebrating even before the first man was pulled out.