Operation to free 41 workers in tunnel collapse could take several more days

Image: A still from video footage of the rescue effort posted on X by chief minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami)

An operation to free 41 construction workers trapped when the tunnel they were working in collapsed could remain there for several more days.

The workers were building a section of the Silkyara tunnel in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand when part of it collapse in a landslide on 12 November.

They have now been in the tunnel for 10 days and although authorities in the area have been able to contact the men and supply them with oxygen, food and water via a six-inch pipe into the tunnel, they have not yet been able to clear the rubble to free the men.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on 21 November to take stock of the rescue operations.

Rescue teams have fed an endoscope flexi camera into the collapse section of the tunnel to communicate with the workers, while president of the International Tunnel and Underground Sites Association Arnold Dix is also at the site.

A statement from the Indian government said it expected all workers to be evacuated safely “soon”, although it has been reported that work could take four to five more days.