The 41 workers who were trapped for two weeks in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand in northern India are safe.
A part of the tunnel had collapsed on November 12th. The men, who were carried out on stretchers after 17 days underground, are doing well under the circumstances, a civil defense member said.
India, the 41 workers trapped in the tunnel under the Himalayas are finally freed. The moment the first of the survivors comes out
The 90cm wide pipe used to save them had previously been painstakingly drilled into the rubble. Their families, who had hoped for so much at this moment, waited outside the tunnel. Ambulances will now take workers to hospital for a health check.
The worker rescue has faced a series of setbacks in recent weeks. Eventually the specialist miners, together with the army, had to overcome the last few meters by hand using the smallest equipment to avoid further collapses caused by vibrations when drilling with the machines.
During the rescue work, the trapped workers were supplied with oxygen, water, food and medicines via tubes and were able to contact rescuers and their relatives via a camera made available last week.
The 4.5 kilometer long highway tunnel, currently under construction, partially collapsed on November 12 due to a landslide. The workers were trapped behind tons of rock about 200 meters from the entrance.
The accident site is located near the town of Uttarkashi, in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.
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