Indian officials said on Monday they hoped to free all 40 workers who have been trapped for more than 35 hours in a collapsed tunnel in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand after rescuers managed to establish contact with those inside.
Karamveer Singh Bhandari, a senior commander in the National Disaster Response Force, told AFP in a statement: “All the 40 workers trapped inside the tunnel are safe. We sent them water and food.”
The tunnel collapsed early Sunday morning during a shift change at the construction site of Yamunotri national highway. Senior police official, Arpan Yaduvanshi, told the BBC a portion of the Silkyara tunnel, around 200m away from its opening, caved in while the workers were inside due to a nearby landslide.
The Silkyara tunnel is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s project aimed at better connecting the famous Hindu shrines in the Uttarakhand district.
Authories said they were able to establish contact with the trapped workers on Sunday night using walkie talkies. They were also able to pump oxygen into the blocked portion of the tunnel through a compression pipe and supply food.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami, said on X: “Contact has been made with the workers trapped in the tunnel through a walkie-talkie. Efforts are being made to get them out safely soon.”
Rescuers are using excavators and other heavy machinery to remove the debris, but officials said it could take several hours before they can reach them.
Prashant Kumar, a senior police official in Uttarkashi, told local news agency on Monday: “We have moved around 15m inside the tunnel. We are making our way from the side.”
Many of the trapped workers are from other states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal.
Similar accidents have occurred over the year. In January, thousands of people were evacuated from their homes in Joshimath, also located in Uttarakhand, after more than 600 houses developed cracks. Landslides during the monsoon season in India has also caused several disasters such as the death of over 60 people in the Himalayas in August this year.
