India successfully rescued all 41 workers from tunnel collapse

All 41 Indian construction workers were pulled out of the collapsed tunnel area on the evening of November 28. The rescue took place more than six hours after rescue teams dug into the area where they were trapped, according to Reuters.

Officials visited the first workers brought out.

Workers were placed on wheeled stretchers and taken out of the 90cm diameter steel pipe, Reuters reported. The entire process took about an hour.

The first person to come out was a short man wearing a grey jacket and a yellow hard hat. He was welcomed and garlanded by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Deputy Minister of Road Transport and Highways VK Singh.

Ambulance at the tunnel entrance

"I am completely relieved and happy that 41 workers trapped at Silkyara tunnel have been successfully rescued. This was a well-coordinated multi-agency effort, marking one of the biggest rescue operations in recent years," Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said in a statement.

Many people filmed and took pictures of the ambulance carrying the trapped workers out.

Several ambulances lined up outside the tunnel to take the workers to hospitals about 30 kilometers away. Outside, locals lit fireworks and cheered.

The workers have been trapped in the 4.5-km Silkyara tunnel under construction in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand since a section of the tunnel suddenly collapsed early on November 12. They are now safe and being supplied with light, oxygen, food, water and medicine through a narrow pipe, according to Reuters.

Rescue team working in the tunnel

The tunnel is part of the $1.5 billion Char Dham highway project, one of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's most ambitious projects, which aims to connect four Hindu pilgrimage sites. Officials did not say what caused the collapse, but the area is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/an-do-cuu-thanh-cong-toan-bo-41-cong-nhan-vu-sap-duong-ham-185231128230441082.htm