In India, rescue teams managed, this Tuesday (28), to drill the tunnel where 41 workers have been trapped in the Himalayas for 17 days.
The men have been isolated since November 12, when part of a tunnel under construction gave way, in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The only exit the group had was blocked. Workers are more than 60 meters underground.
The advance follows a series of setbacks, where rescue efforts were halted after machinery, used to drill into the ground, broke down. Teams had to manually dig more than 20 meters to reach the workers’ level.
Uttarakhand government executive engineer Avinash Kumar Saini told CNN that drilling was finally completed after 17 days.
With the drilling complete, rescuers then pushed a large pipe so the men could get out to safety.
“The work of laying pipes in the tunnel to get workers out has been completed. Soon all the men will be removed,” wrote Pushkar Singh Dhami, Uttarakhand chief minister, on social media site X.
State district official Kirti Panwar sounded an optimistic tone that workers will soon be able to reunite with their families. “We are at the end of it all,” he said.
Mahi Shah, brother-in-law of a worker trapped in the cave, said rescuers have already entered the tunnel.
“41 ambulances are ready here for people to leave. We were told in about an hour everyone will be out,” he told CNN.
Indrajeet Kumar, whose brothers Subodh and Biswajit were among those trapped, said the families were waiting for relatives near the rescue site.
“They haven’t left yet, but they told us to be ready to accompany them for medical assistance soon,” he said.
Video broadcast on local television showed scenes from inside the tunnel, with workers smiling and singing after drilling stopped. An ambulance was seen entering the tunnel.
The workers – who are migrants from some of India’s poorest states – have been receiving food, water and oxygen through a 53-meter tube that has been inserted underground. Authorities said the group is in good health.
Doctors on site were in regular contact with the men in the cave, offering tips on how to remain confident and calm.
The tunnel is part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Char Dham Highway route, a controversial multimillion-dollar project that aims to revamp the country’s transport network.
*In update
Source: CNN Brasil
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