All 41 Construction Workers Freed In India
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
NEW DELHI (Worthy News) – All 41 construction workers who became trapped in a tunnel in northern India after a landslide on 12 November have been rescued, officials say.
None of the men are thought to have been injured in the miraculous rescue operation, but the group are being given medical checks at a nearby hospital.
They were extracted one by one via a pipe 90 centimeters (3 feet) in diameter, inserted through the rubble of the collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand state.
The state government hailed the rescue as “good news… for the entire country”, and the Indian prime minister saluted the trapped men’s “inspiring” courage and patience.
Marathon efforts to free them from the Silkyara tunnel, which collapsed on November 12, overcame numerous setbacks, officials said.
The mission was ultimately completed on Tuesday evening thanks to the efforts of a group of “rat-hole” miners, who used hand-held drills to break through the rock.
INDIAN PRESIDENT
India’s President Droupadi Murmu wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that she was “relieved and happy” to hear the men had been freed.
She also praised the rescue effort, which she said was met with obstacles that had been “a testament of human endurance.”
The workers were greeted with wild cheers and flower garlands as they emerged from the tunnel.
Crowds waved banners reading “Bharat Mata ki Jai,” or “Long live mother India,” and set off firecrackers as the workers were pulled out.
The workers became stuck in the tunnel on 12 November when a landslide caused a portion of the 2.8-mile (4.5 kilometers) tunnel they were building in Uttarakhand state to collapse about 200m (650 feet) from the entrance.
They survived on food and oxygen supplied through narrow steel pipes for 17 days, authorities said. They will now face a period of recovery with their loved ones.
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