2023-11-28T15:32:19Z
Rescuers on Tuesday (November 28) were seen making preparations to evacuate workers trapped for 17 days inside a collapsed tunnel in the Indian Himalayas. Footage filmed by Reuters partner ANI showed some ambulances reversing into the entrance of the tunnel, as rescuers brought in equipment, while more ambulances and emergency vehicles waited outside.
Indian rescuers on Tuesday pulled out the first of 41 construction workers trapped inside a collapsed tunnel in the Himalayas for 17 days, hours after drilling through the debris of rock, concrete and earth to reach them, officials said.
The evacuation of the men to safety began more than six hours after rescuers broke through to end an ordeal that began early on Nov. 12 when the tunnel caved in.
“The first one is out,” a rescue official told reporters outside the 4.5 km (3 mile) tunnel in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
Ambulances with their lights flashing lined up at the mouth of the tunnel to transport the workers to a hospital about 30 km away.
The men have been getting food, water, light, oxygen and medicines through a pipe but efforts to dig a tunnel to rescue them with high-powered drilling machines were frustrated by a series of snags.
The tunnel is part of the $1.5 billion Char Dham highway, one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s most ambitious projects, aimed at connecting four Hindu pilgrimage sites through an 890- km network of roads.
Authorities have not said what caused the cave-in but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.
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One of the trapped workers is checked out after he was rescued from the collapsed tunnel site in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. Uttarkashi District Information Officer/Handout via REUTERS
Rescue operations continue at the site where workers are trapped after a tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi, in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Ambulances move inside a tunnel where rescue operations are underway to rescue trapped workers, after the tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Ambulances wait to enter a tunnel where rescue operations are underway to rescue trapped workers, after the tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Rescue operations at a tunnel, where workers are trapped after the tunnel collapsed, continue through the evening, in Uttarkashi, in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Members of the team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) prepare to enter a tunnel to rescue trapped workers, after the tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
People wait outside a tunnel where rescue operations are underway to rescue trapped workers, after the tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
An ambulance goes inside a tunnel where rescue operations are underway to rescue trapped workers, after the tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
A member of the rescue team works as rescue operations continue at a tunnel where workers are trapped, after the tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Women watch the rescue operations at a tunnel, where workers are trapped after the tunnel collapsed, from a hillside in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Arnold Dix, President of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association, and Australian independent disaster investigator, receives blessings from a priest as they pray for the safe rescue of the trapped workers, outside the collapsed tunnel where rescue operations are underway, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Uttrakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami leaves after visiting the tunnel where workers are trapped after a tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
A concrete block is carried into the tunnel where rescue operations are underway to rescue trapped workers, after a tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Policemen walk past a bulldozer as it lays down mud to flatten a road outside the tunnel where operations are underway to rescue trapped workers, after a tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
A concrete block is carried into the tunnel where rescue operations are underway to rescue trapped workers, after a tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Local residents pray at the site where rescue operations are underway at a tunnel, where workers are trapped after a tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Members of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) are briefed outside a temporary makeshift camp as rescue operations are in progress at a tunnel where workers are trapped, after the tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Policemen walk past a bulldozer as it lays down mud to flatten a road outside the tunnel where operations are underway to rescue trapped workers, after a tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Rescue operations are in progress at a tunnel where workers are trapped, after the tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas
Rescuers fix parts of an auger machine inside a tunnel, where workers are trapped after a portion of the tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 26, 2023. Uttarkashi District Information Officer/Handout via REUTERS/File photo
Rescue operations continue as evening approaches, where workers got trapped in a tunnel construction collapse in Uttarkashi, northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 27, 2023. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File photo