(Dehradun) The rescue of 41 workers stuck for almost a week in a tunnel under construction in northern India was interrupted on Saturday as a precaution, after the fall of new debris, said the company responsible for the work .
The company initially spoke of 40 stranded workers, but a local official, Abhishek Ruhela, announced on Saturday that there were in fact 41.
A loud crack occurred on Friday evening and “created panic in the tunnel”, leading to fears that the ceiling could collapse. Operations were halted due to the possibility of “further collapse”, the government’s highways and infrastructure company said in a statement.
Rescuers are working to clear debris from a road tunnel under construction in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand after part of the tunnel workers were building collapsed on Sunday .
As of Saturday morning, work on drilling tons of earth and rock to reach the workers was still suspended, a senior local official, Abhishek Ruhela, told AFP. But “apart from drilling, other useful work is underway,” Ruhela said.
Rescuers said Friday they had dug less than half the distance to reach the men.
After the first drill failed, a replacement machine was brought aboard an Air Force C-130 Hercules military plane on Wednesday, but it then hit a rock.
“The machine was unable to progress further as it had lifted and the machine’s bearings were damaged,” the construction company added.
The objective is to introduce a steel pipe of approximately 90 centimeters in diameter through which the workers, all of whom are still alive, can be evacuated.
Rescuers communicate with the trapped men using radios. Food, water, oxygen and medicine were also sent to workers via a 15-centimeter-wide pipe.
But workers stuck in a 400m-long space since November 12 are desperate, Indian media reported.
“We continue to send messages, to inquire about their state of health,” said Mohammed Rizwan, a member of the rescue team quoted by the Times of India. “But everyone has only one question: ‘When are you going to take us out?’ ” »