Indian rescuers on Tuesday pulled out all 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.
According to the BBC, the evacuation of the men — low-wage workers from some of India’s poorest states — began more than six hours after rescuers broke through the debris in the tunnel in Uttarakhand state, which caved in on Nov. 12.
They were pulled out on wheeled stretchers through a 90-centimetre wide steel pipe, with the entire process being completed in about an hour.
The labourers, low-wage workers from some of India’s poorest states, had been stuck in the 4.5-km (three-mile) tunnel being built in Uttarakhand since it caved in early on November 12.
The intricate and painstaking efforts to get them out had been closely watched across the country for days.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the state’s top elected official, met some of the workers before they were taken to hospital, presenting them with traditional marigold garlands. Ambulances and helicopters were on standby at the entrance of the tunnel.
