41 workers have been trapped in an under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand, India since November 12 due to a collapse.
Rescue efforts are ongoing, with authorities making visual contact with the workers and delivering food and other essentials through a pipeline.
The tunnel is part of a national highway project aimed at improving all-weather connectivity for the Char Dham Hindu pilgrimage route.
The workers were seen alive on camera for the first time, ten days after the incident.
In Uttarakhand, India, a group of 41 workers have been trapped in an under-construction tunnel since November 12 due to a collapse. The workers were seen alive on camera for the first time, ten days after the incident. The men, still wearing their helmets, were seen peering at the endoscopic camera sent by rescuers down a thin pipe through which air, food, and water are being sent. The workers appeared exhausted and anxious.
The tunnel is part of a national highway project aimed at improving all-weather connectivity for the Char Dham Hindu pilgrimage route. The planned 4.5-kilometre tunnel is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's infrastructure plans aimed at cutting travel times between some of the most popular Hindu sites in the country, as well as improving access to strategic areas bordering rival China.
Rescue efforts are ongoing, with authorities making visual contact with the workers and delivering food and other essentials through a pipeline. Rescue teams are considering multiple plans, including drilling vertically from the mountain's top. However, the rescue efforts have been slow due to falling debris and repeated breakdowns of heavy drilling machines.
Uttarakhand's chief minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, stated that all the workers are safe and they are trying their best to get them out soon. Excavators have been removing tonnes of earth, but the process is slow and fraught with danger due to the unstable nature of the terrain.
The planned 4.5-kilometre tunnel is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's infrastructure plans aimed at cutting travel times between some of the most popular Hindu sites in the country, as well as improving access to strategic areas bordering rival China.
The men, looking exhausted and anxious, were seen peering at the endoscopic camera sent by rescuers down the thin pipe through which air, food and water is being sent.