The 41 workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel in India for 13 days are believed to be just hours away from freedom.
Rescue teams carefully tunneled to the men after a landslide in Uttarkashi, northern India, is believed to have caused part of a 4.5-kilometre-long tunnel to fall apart about 200 meters from the entrance on November 12.
Hopes of a breakthrough on Wednesday evening were dashed after work had to be halted when the drill driving through rock and concrete struck metal bars.
However, these have since been cut using gas cutters.
Above-ground teams prepare for the men’s arrival with wheeled stretchers, ready to pull the exhausted men through 57 meters of steel pipe once it passes through the last piece of rubble blocking their escape.
The 41 workers trapped for 13 days in a collapsed road tunnel in India could be hours away from freedom, officials say.
The area outside the tunnel was a hive of activity, with concerned relatives gathering and rescue teams stopping to pray at a Hindu shrine erected at the entrance.
The area is teeming with police, rescuers, construction workers, media and friends and family
A crane carries part of the drill as the rescue operation enters its final stages
People pack food for workers trapped under the collapsed Silkyara road tunnel in Uttarkashi
A man prepares food for stuck workers
Rescue personnel have equipped wheeled stretchers ready to pull the exhausted men through 57 meters of steel pipe once it passes through the last piece of rubble blocking their escape.
Machines are pictured in the tunnel as rescuers rush to the 41 men who are kept alive with oxygen pumps and food supplies delivered every two hours
Rescue personnel weld a drill bit during rescue operations
Ambulances and a field hospital are also on standby to receive the men.
Bhaskar Khulbe, a former adviser to the prime minister and senior government official who oversaw the rescue efforts, said: “We have to drill 14 meters further into the tunnel.”
“If all goes well, we hope to reach them today evening,” he said, adding that the “confined workers are in a good state of mind.”
For the past two weeks, the men have been kept alive by pumping oxygen to their location and sending food such as nuts, chickpeas and popcorn to the group every two hours.
A government statement also noted that each timeline is “subject to change due to technical issues, the challenging terrain in the Himalayas and unforeseen emergencies.”
The area outside the tunnel was a hive of activity, with concerned relatives gathering and rescue teams stopping to pray at a Hindu shrine erected at the entrance.
In the photo: Rescue workers stand at the entrance to the road tunnel
Locals worship the deity ‘Boukhnag’ to bring the workers back safely, depicted at the entrance of the tunnel
Those trapped would be safe and receive oxygen, water, medicine and food through a pipe. Pictured: Members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) entering a tunnel
The tunnel is part of a government project that connects Hindu pilgrimage sites
Paramedics wait at the tunnel where rescuers are working in the final phase to reach workers trapped in the Silkyara road tunnel
National Disaster Response Force chief Atul Karwal said his teams have rehearsed how, once the steel pipe breaks, they will get the men out as quickly and safely as possible.
“The boys go in first,” he said Thursday. ‘We put wheels under the stretchers so that when we go in, we can get people onto the stretcher one by one. We are prepared in every way.”
Rescue efforts have been hit by repeated delays caused by falling debris, fears of further collapses and drilling equipment failures.
Arnold Dix, president of the International Tunneling and Underground Space Association, who is on site to assist the rescue, said engineers were even faced with cutting through construction vehicles buried in the earth when the roof first collapsed.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel are making preparations by fitting stretchers with wheels
Ambulances are on standby for the trapped workers
State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel enter the tunnel
Teams are working through the night to help free the 41 men
Excavator shoes are seen at a shelter
Rescuers pack rice so it can be sent to workers through a metal tube
Rescue team members use machines as part of preparations to vertically drill into a hillside to rescue rescuers
Family members from several states have spent nights near the tunnel, seeking updates on their loved ones. Pictured: National Disaster Response Force team members outside the tunnel under construction on November 14
Police officers stand guard at the site of a tunnel collapse
Police escort family members waiting to see their loved ones again
A Hindu priest offers prayers at the entrance to the tunnel
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the work was on a ‘war footing’.
“We are trying to overcome all obstacles quickly and get all workers out safely,” Dhami said on Friday.
Syed Ata Hasnain, a senior rescue official and retired general, said their efforts were “like a battle.”
“Here the country is your enemy,” he said Thursday. ‘The geology of the Himalayas is the enemy… it is very challenging work.’
Experts have warned about the impact of large-scale construction work in Uttarakhand, large parts of which are prone to landslides.