INDIA, Nov 16: Rescue workers renewed efforts on Thursday to reach 40 men trapped inside a collapsed highway tunnel in India for the fifth day, making slow progress as they began drilling through rock and soil debris.
Authorities said they were confident an advanced drilling machine flown in from New Delhi will speed up the rescue at the site in the northern state of Uttarakhand.
The plan is to drill and create space for a pipe that can be used by the trapped men to crawl to safety.
State top disaster management officer Ranjit Sinha said drilling had penetrated about three metres (10ft) of debris by on Thursday morning, officials said, adding that they had to cover a total distance of about 60 metres.
“The machine can drill through about 2-2.5 metres of rock per hour.
Two of the trapped construction workers were treated for nausea and headache as they endured a fifth day confined to a small space behind the rubble,” he said.
Meanwhile, Federal Deputy Minister for road transport and highways, and a retired army chief V.K. Singh said there is electricity, water and we are sending food.
“The new machine which is more powerful and speedy, is deployed.
“Our priority is to save them all. The morale of people trapped inside is high. We are very optimistic of bringing them out,” he added.
Singh said Indian agencies involved in the rescue effort were consulting experts in Austria, Norway and Thailand, but did not elaborate. – TVS
