Rescuers on Saturday continued their efforts to reach workers trapped for nearly a week in a collapsed highway tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district. The disaster management office has updated the number of people trapped in the tunnel in the state to 41, revising it from the initial count of 40 on Sunday, 12 November 2023.
The under-construction tunnel on the Yamunotri National Highway, meant to connect Silkyara and Dandalgaon in Uttarkashi district, collapsed trapping workers hailing from Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, as per the District Emergency Operation Centre.
The rescue operations resumed after replacing the primary digging machine following a temporary setback.
The families of trapped workers are desperate, PTI reported. Authorities have assured that all individuals are safe.
The replacement high-performance drilling machine was transported by air from Indore in Madhya Pradesh. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with police and local administration personnel, are working to rescue the trapped. An escape passage is being created to reach the trapped workers, and the distance to reach those trapped is approximately 60 meters.
