Five minutes. This was the time it took for each of the 41 workers buried in a Himalayan tunnel for 17 days to reach freedom in an operation that took place this Tuesday.
The rescue was possible thanks to the installation of pipes almost one meter in diameter and 57 meters long, connected between the tunnel entrance in the city of Silkyara and the place where they were located.
Apparently the collapse of part of the tunnel where the 41 men were working was caused by a landslide. It happened when a group of workers left the construction site and a replacement team arrived.
Located in the state of Uttarakhand, the tunnel is part of the Chardham highway, an emblematic project of the Indian government, which will serve to connect two important Hindu shrines, Uttarkahsi and Yamnotri (two of the most important places of worship) . border areas with China. In January this year, hundreds of people had already been evacuated from their homes to temporary shelters after a temple collapsed and 600 houses suffered cracks due to land sinking in the city of Joshimath.
As one of the experts who investigated the case told Reuters, the tunnel was built through a geological fault and had no emergency exit.
The successful rescue came after several setbacks, with military engineers and miners picking their way by hand through the rocks and rubble, clearing the final section, where the 41 men – from India’s poorest states, were hired to build a to build a 4.5 kilometer tunnel – they were buried. While one of the rescuers was digging, another removed the rubble by hand and the third placed the rubble in a cart. In total, it took 400 hours to dig the tunnel to where the workers were.
A week ago, authorities began providing hot meals to workers through a 6-inch diameter tube. Until then, the 41 men had lived on dry food, which reached them via a narrower channel. Oxygen entered a separate channel. The first communication between employees and the outside world was via paper. Later they were able to communicate by radio.
This Tuesday, the workers brought out of the tunnel were welcomed by their families, as well as garlands of flowers and representatives of the Indian government. All this to loud applause. The 41 men were later taken to a hospital.
Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, quoted by AFP, said in a statement that he felt “completely relieved and happy with the success of the rescue of the Silkarya tunnel”. “The result was achieved through the coordinated efforts of numerous agencies in one of the largest rescue operations in recent years,” he added. The brother of one of the workers also left a thank you note to the authorities.
In photos shared by rescue teams on social media, it was possible to see men smiling and making signs of victory as they finished drilling through the tons of earth, cement and rubble blocking workers.
Source: DN
