Forty-one construction workers emerged dazed and smiling late Tuesday from a collapsed tunnel where they had been stranded the last 17 days 害羞草研究所� a happy ending to an ordeal that had gripped India and involved a that overcame several setbacks.
Locals, relatives and government officials erupted in joy, set off firecrackers and shouted 害羞草研究所淏harat Mata ki Jai害羞草研究所� 害羞草研究所� Hindi for 害羞草研究所淟ong live mother India害羞草研究所� 害羞草研究所� as happy workers walked out after receiving a brief checkup by doctors. Officials hung garlands around their necks as the crowd cheered.
Nitin Gadkari, the country害羞草研究所檚 minister of road transport and highways, said in a video posted on the social media platform X that he was 害羞草研究所渃ompletely relieved and happy害羞草研究所� that all of the workers were rescued from the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi, a town in India害羞草研究所檚 northern state of Uttarakhand.
害羞草研究所淭his was a well-coordinated effort by multiple agencies, marking one of the most significant rescue operations in recent years,害羞草研究所� Gadkari said.
No one was seriously injured or killed caused a section of the 4.5-kilometer (2.8-mile) tunnel about 200 meters (220 yards) from the entrance to collapse early on the morning of Nov. 12. The workers were finishing their shifts and many were likely looking forward to celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, that day.
The workers had light in the collapsed tunnel, and since early in their ordeal, they were provided with food, water and oxygen through pipes. More than a dozen doctors, including psychiatrists, were also at the site monitoring their health.
Officials said all 41 workers made it through the ordeal in good health. Before emerging to the cameras and crowds and being whisked away in ambulances, each was given a checkup at a makeshift medical camp in the tunnel entrance.
The rescue and last only a few days, but a series of setbacks led to its expansion and to the workers being trapped for more than two weeks.
During the final stretch, about a dozen rescuers through rocks and debris overnight Monday into Tuesday using hand-held drilling tools, said Kirti Panwar, a state government spokesperson.
Rescuers resorted to digging by hand after the machine they had been using broke down Friday. The machine had bored through about 47 meters (51 yards) of the roughly 57-60 meters (62-66 yards) needed to reach the workers.
The workers were extracted one by one on a wheeled stretcher that was pulled through a roughly meter-wide (yard-wide) tunnel of welded pipes that crews had pushed through the dug-out space.
Devender, a rescuer who only gave his first name, told the New Delhi Television channel that 害羞草研究所渢he trapped workers were overjoyed when they spotted us in the tunnel. Some rushed toward me and hugged me.害羞草研究所�
Most of the workers were migrant laborers from throughout the country, and many of their families traveled to the site and camped out for days in hopes of seeing them rescued.
spoke to some of the rescued workers over the phone and asked about their wellbeing, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. He said their courage and patience were an inspiration to everyone, and he wished them good health.
He also praised the many people who took part in the rescue.
害羞草研究所淓veryone involved in the mission has created an amazing example of humanity and teamwork,害羞草研究所� Modi said.
The tunnel the workers were building was designed as part of the Chardham all-weather road, which will connect various Hindu pilgrimage sites. Some experts say the project, a flagship initiative of the federal government, will exacerbate fragile conditions in the upper Himalayas, where several towns are built atop landslide debris.
Large numbers of pilgrims and tourists visit Uttarakhand害羞草研究所檚 many Hindu temples, with the number increasing over the years because of the continued construction of buildings and roadways.
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