Rescue workers in India are working on a new plan to extract dozens of road workers from a tunnel. The construction workers were trapped for eight days. The authorities want to dig two parallel tunnels through which the victims can escape.
Previously, a rescue operation was being carried out using a steel pipe. The idea was that construction workers could crawl through this pipe. But the rescue plan was halted on Friday due to problems with drilling machines.
Families of road workers have repeatedly criticized the rescue operations. They want the authorities to speed up rescue work. The road workers remained stuck in the tunnel for eight days.
India had previously sought advice from the Thai company that rescued a youth soccer team from a cave in 2018.
0:48Dozens of Indian workers are trapped in the collapsed tunnel
The men receive oxygen and water through a narrow tunnel
On the night of November 11 to 12, the tunnel collapsed in Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand is a Himalayan state bordering Nepal and China. Dozens of construction workers were at work when part of the tunnel collapsed due to a landslide.
Dozens of meters between where the construction workers were located and the exit were filled with rubble. The men receive oxygen, water, and medication through a narrow tube.
The 4.5-kilometre tunnel is part of a new highway that will connect Hindu pilgrimage sites in the mountains. Construction is currently underway and is scheduled to be completed in May next year, according to the latest timeline.
