Uttarakhand tunnel rescue highlights: ‘Will review all tunnels in state to avoid such cases,’ says CM Dhami

An ambulance carries survivors as rescue operations are underway to rescue trapped workers after a tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 28, 2023.

Uttarakhand tunnel rescue highlights: Rat-hole mining specialists engaged in rescuing 41 workers trapped in the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi initiated manual drilling through the debris on Monday. In the latest updates, all the 41 trapped workers are successfully removed. Around 1:30 pm on Tuesday, Bansi Dhar Tiwari, the state government's information department, announced the completion of drilling. Shortly after, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirmed on social media that the escape pipe had been laid into the drilled passage, expressing optimism about bringing out all workers soon.

However, hours later the National Disaster Management Authority’s official said that the breakthrough is not yet achieved but the rescuers are quite close.

Finally, at around 7:00pm the breakthrough was achieved and rescuers entered the collapsed tunnel.

At least 12 rat-hole mining experts were tasked with horizontally drilling through the final 10- to 12-meter stretch of debris in the collapsed section of the under-construction tunnel on the Char Dham route in Uttarakhand. The alternative drilling approach was adopted after a large auger machine became stuck on Friday. Approximately 40 per cent of the necessary 86-meter vertical drilling has been completed.