Tunnel collapse: Machine repairs prolong ordeal for trapped Indians

Indians stuck in a tunnel have their suffering prolonged by machine repairs.

Due to an issue with the drilling machine, rescue efforts to free 41 workers who are stuck in a tunnel in the Indian state of Uttarakhand have once again been delayed.

To give the workers an escape path out of the debris, the US-made machine is drilling through it. According to officials, drilling is expected to resume on Friday while the machine is being fixed.

After a landslide caused part of the tunnel to collapse, the workers have been trapped inside it for the past twelve days.

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The Silkyara tunnel in the Indian Himalayas collapsed on November 12, covering a distance of 4.5 km (3 miles). Soon after, contact was made with the stranded men, and they have been getting oxygen, water, and food ever since.

Earlier, rescue officials declared they would have the men freed by Thursday morning. However, due to the most recent technical issue, the operations have been delayed.

A former assistant to the prime minister’s office who was actively involved in the rescue efforts, Bhaskar Khulbe, informed the media that the drilling machine’s base had weakened and needed repairs that would take all night on Thursday.

According to a government statement on Friday, the machine’s platform has been strengthened with concrete, and it will soon be put back together.

The device is making a hole in a debris wall that is 60 meters (197 feet) deep and keeping the workers from getting out of the tunnel.

Authorities have been attempting to excavate a micro-tunnel through which the workers can be extracted by inserting many pipes of varying diameters. The workers will be wheeled out through the pipes on stretchers. But because there are boulders, stones, and metal among the debris, the job is difficult.

Workers ran into a heavy metal rod on Wednesday that needed to be cut using gas cutters, which also caused the activity to halt.

About 75% of the material has already been dug through by rescuers; the remaining portion will require some time to excavate.