India tunnel collapse: Rescue comes to a sudden halt as equipment mishap delays drilling

The last 12 days have been nothing but anguish for their loved ones the 41 workers helping build a road connecting four Hindu pilgrimage sites near the Himalayas are still trapped this man’s brother is one of the trapped workers inside the 2 km long space he says we are all hoping that

They come out now it is not in our hands to pull them out or do anything the administration is at it Machinery is there with God’s blessing we are hopeful the path of this rescue has not been straightforward it’s like we’re there we’re knocking we know the guys are on

The other side but we can’t get in on Thursday the drill brought in to help create a passageway for the group to be stretchered out was damaged after trying to penetrate through 10 to 12 M of debris officials initially thought drilling would be completed Thursday but once equipment was up and running on

Friday they found a metal pipe stuck to the machine you could understand the difficulty that I have to go 45 M work inside a claustrophobic environment without oxygen and do the cutting so that took about 6 hours last weekend rescue teams attempted to dig horizontally but the mountainous region

Proved to be difficult with vibrations from the drill causing more debris to fall another plan to drill vertically has been proposed with teams working to assemble a second drill and while Crews have remained in contact with the 41 workers ensuring they have access to oxygen water food medicine and light

Hopes are still high they will be freed soon theoretically by tonight but if some other impediment comes then we are there to handle it because we don’t know what it’ll throw us in our path again we have had these issues earlier so I think

It is good to hope for the best and be prepared for whatever comes away authorities have not determined what caused the tunnel to collapse but experts tell Reuters that the work site did not have an emergency escape the region is prone to landslides earthquakes and floods Kyle Benning Global News

After 12 days, the 41 workers who were left trapped in a collapsed tunnel in northern India on Nov. 12 remain stuck, despite significant process in rescue efforts.

Before the project came to a halt, these dozens of workers were helping to build a road connecting four Hindu pilgrimage sites near the Himalayas.

As of Thursday evening, after drilling for days, workers made it through nearly 46 metres — with another 12 to go before a sufficient passageway is made for a safe escape.

A delay, however, occurred that evening, after the drilling machine used in the rescue hit a lattice steel girder arch that took six hours to remove.

As Global’s Kyle Benning reports, the tumultuous situation is having a negative impact upon not just those trapped, but their worried family members, too.

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