All workers emerge from tunnel in India two weeks after it collapsed
28 November 2023, 14:59 | Updated: 28 November 2023, 15:10
The first workers trapped in an Indian tunnel that collapsed several weeks ago have been released.
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Some 41 workers were trapped in the tunnel located in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand when it collapsed 17 days ago following a landslide.
All of the workers have been rescued from the tunnel, according to Indian broadcaster NDTV.
"The work of evacuating the labor brothers trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel has started," the chief minister said previously.
"So far 8 workers have been rescued. Initial health checkup of all the workers is being done in the temporary medical camp built in the tunnel."
Read More: Indian rescuers begin helping 41 workers out of collapsed road tunnel
They are not thought to have sustained any injuries in the two weeks they have been trapped in the tunnel.
Emergency services have been supplying them with food, oxygen and water through a separate pipe, it is understood.
The workers are being extracted one-by-one via a 3ft pipe, which is being funnelled through the collapsed tunnel.
सिलक्यारा टनल में फंसे श्रमिक भाइयों को बाहर निकालने का कार्य प्रारंभ हो चुका है। अभी तक 8 श्रमिकों को रेस्क्यू कर लिया गया है।
— Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami) November 28, 2023
सभी श्रमिकों का प्रारंभिक स्वास्थ्य परीक्षण टनल में बने अस्थाई मेडिकल कैंप में किया जा रहा है। pic.twitter.com/GlkD36HKRD
The workers had been expected to be freed overnight, though rescuers suffered difficulties.
Instead 'rat' miners were brought in.
