The workers, who were rescued from the collapsed road tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi after 17 days, are expected to be airlifted to Rishikesh’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Despite being in good health, they have been kept under observation at a community health centre. Chief medical officer (Uttarkashi) RCS Panwar confirmed that all workers are physically and mentally well, with no reported ailments. They will soon be transported to AIIMS in Rishikesh.
The workers who were trapped for a total of 422 hours were successfully rescued, with the initial worker emerging at approximately 7:45pm on Tuesday. Each worker was individually transported to the health center for medical attention.
The trapped workers’ relatives embraced their loved ones as they were transported out. The hopes of a successful rescue were repeatedly shattered due to the additional collapse of debris and the malfunctioning of machinery.
The engineers encountered metal girders and construction vehicles buried in the rubble while attempting to horizontally drive a metal pipe through 57 meters (187 feet) of rock and concrete. This resulted in the destruction of a large earth-boring auger machine last week. Despite these challenges, rescuers managed to establish video communication using an endoscopic camera and provided food and fruits through a second six-inch pipe inserted into the debris. However, the progress of breaking through the collapsed tunnel faced new obstacles.
Fortunately, a group of rat-hole miners, who were sent in on November 27, played a crucial role in achieving the final breakthrough. They squeezed into a metal pipe and manually cut through the rock face.