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Agence France-Presse

Indian rescuers were battling on Monday to free 41 men trapped in a road tunnel for nine days, as they prepared to dig an entirely new shaft after previous efforts failed.
Excavators have been removing earth, concrete and rubble from the under-construction tunnel in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand since November 12, after a portion of the tunnel collapsed.
But rescue efforts have been slowed by falling debris as well as repeated breakdowns of the crucial heavy drilling machines, with the air force having to twice airlift in new kit.

Engineers had been trying to horizontally drive a steel pipe through the debris, just wide enough for the increasingly desperate men to squeeze through.
But drilling on that route was paused on Friday, after a cracking sound created a “panic situation”, officials said.
Teams were now preparing to dig the new shaft from above, forcing workers to cut an entirely new track up to the top of the forested hill high above for the heavy equipment needed.
41 workers still trapped in India tunnel collapse as drilling hits snags
Experts have warned about the impact of extensive construction in Uttarakhand, where large parts of the state are prone to landslides.
“Every effort is being made,” Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a statement on Monday, insisting that the “workers trapped in the tunnel are safe”.
He said he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the crisis.
Top local civil servant Abhishek Ruhela said the track to the new drilling site was three-quarters built.
“Up to 900 metres (2,950 feet) of the 1,200 metre-long road being built for drilling over the tunnel has been completed,” Ruhela said.


Rescuers have been communicating with the trapped workers by radio, while food, water, oxygen and medicine have also been sent to them via narrow pipe, with workers planning to expand that to allow bigger food packets to be sent.
Foreign experts have been drafted in, including independent disaster investigator Arnold Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association.
“We are going to find a solution and get them out,” Dix told reporters on Monday at the site.
“A lot of work is being done here. It is important that not only the men rescued but also the men who are [doing the] rescuing are safe.”
Villagers have set up a Hindu temple at the mouth of the tunnel to the local god, Boukhnag, saying the original temple had been moved during construction.
Some villagers blamed the tunnel collapse on the fact that the initial temple was destroyed.
The tunnel is part of Modi’s infrastructure project aimed at cutting travel times between some of the most popular Hindu sites in the country, as well as to improve access to strategic areas bordering rival China.


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India rescuers plan new shaft to free 41 trapped tunnel workers

Rescuers on Sunday move machines past a tunnel where workers are trapped after a portion of the tunnel collapsed in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India. Photo: Reuters

Rescuers at the entrance of an under-construction road tunnel in India’s Uttarakhand state on Saturday, days after it collapsed. Photo: AFP

Indian crews try inserting steel pipe to rescue 40 trapped workers from collapsed Himalayan road tunnel

Rescue and relief operations are underway after 40 workers were trapped after an under-construction tunnel in India. Photo: State Disaster Response Force/Handout/EPA-EFE

The rescue operation in Uttarakashi, India. Photo: Handout via EPA-EFE

India’s State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) is trying to rescue trapped workers. Photo: via EPA-EFE

41 workers remain trapped in India tunnel for seventh day as drilling rescue hits snags

A general view of the tunnel as rescue workers continue to operate at the site of an under-construction tunnel following a collapse, on the Brahmakhal Yamunotri National Highway in Uttarkashi. Photo: EPA-EFE

A new machine believed to be meant for a rescue operation arrives at the tunnel. Photo: EPA-EFE

Rescuers use a digger to make a path at the top of the mountain as part of an alternate plan to reach the workers. Photo: Reuters

‘Pray to God’: at least 40 Indian workers trapped in road tunnel collapse

The Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in India, where part of a road tunnel collapsed, trapping dozens of workers involved in building it. Photo: EPA-EFE

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan in 2022. Photo: via AP

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Excavators have been removing rubble from the under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand since November 12 after a portion of the tunnel collapsed
Rescue efforts have been slowed by continued falling debris as well as repeated breakdowns of the crucial heavy drilling machines


Excavators have been removing rubble from the under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand since November 12 after a portion of the tunnel collapsed. Rescue efforts have been slowed by continued falling debris.


India rescuers plan new shaft to free 41 trapped tunnel workers

Excavators have been removing rubble from the under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand since November 12 after a portion of the tunnel collapsed Rescue efforts have been slowed by continued falling debris as well as repeated breakdowns of the crucial heavy drilling machines

Excavators have been removing rubble from the under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand since November 12 after a portion of the tunnel collapsed

Rescue efforts have been slowed by continued falling debris as well as repeated breakdowns of the crucial heavy drilling machines