Renewed drilling begins to rescue 40 men trapped in Indian tunnel for fifth day

[November 16, 2023]  By Saurabh Sharma

UTTARKASHI, India (Reuters) -Rescue workers renewed efforts on Thursday to reach 40 men trapped inside a collapsed highway tunnel in India for the fifth day, making slow progress as they began drilling through rock and soil debris.

Authorities said they were confident an advanced drilling machine flown in from New Delhi will speed up the rescue at the site in the northern state of Uttarakhand.

The plan is to drill and create space for a pipe that can be used by the trapped men to crawl to safety.

Drilling had penetrated about 3 meters (10 ft) of debris by on Thursday morning, officials said, adding that they had to cover a total distance of about 60 meters.

The machine can drill through about 2-2.5 meters of rock per hour, Ranjit Sinha, the state's top disaster management officer, said.

Two of the trapped construction workers were treated for nausea and headache as they endured a fifth day confined to a small space behind the rubble, officials said.

"There is electricity, water and we are sending food. The new machine which is more powerful and speedy, is deployed," V.K. Singh, federal deputy minister for road transport and highways, and a retired army chief, told reporters at the site.

Members of rescue teams stand at the entrance of a tunnel where 40 road workers are trapped after a portion of the tunnel collapsed, in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 16, 2023. REUTERS/Shankar Prasad Nautiyal

"Our priority is to save them all. The morale of people trapped inside is high. We are very optimistic of bringing them out," he said.

Singh said Indian agencies involved in the rescue effort were consulting experts in Austria, Norway and Thailand, but did not elaborate.

Asked about local media reports which said India had consulted Thai experts involved in the 2018 rescue of 12 boys trapped in a cave complex, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said: "Technical experts who have dealt with such situations in foreign countries have also been consulted."

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