Indian rescuers in final stretch to free workers
Indian rescuers have drilled three-quarters of the way through debris towards 41 workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel for the past 11 days, officials said on Wednesday, raising hopes of a breakthrough with diggers in the final stretch. Engineers are working to drive a steel pipe through at least 57 metres of the tonnes of earth, concrete and rubble that has divided the trapped men from freedom since a portion of the under-construction tunnel in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand collapsed 11 days ago. Looking into the Silkyara tunnel entrance on Wednesday, sparks could be seen flying as workers welded metal tube sections together, with the site busy as excavators and heavy trucks brought in equipment. Ambulances were on standby near the entrance, ready in the hope that the trapped men could soon be freed. Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the work was on a "war footing" as he arrived at the site on Wednesday evening. "Work is being done at a fast pace", he said in a statement, saying engineers had drilled 45 metres through the 57 metres of debris, making a sudden rapid advance after days of painfully slow progress. "If there is no blockage, we hope there could be happy news late tonight or tomorrow," Mahmood Ahmad, a road and highways ministry official involved in the operations, told reporters at the site. (AFP)