DEHRADUN, India:Â Rescue workers in northern India said on Monday (Nov 13) they had made contact with 40 workers trapped for over 24 hours after the road tunnel they were building collapsed.
“All the 40 workers trapped inside the tunnel are safe,” Karamveer Singh Bhandari, a senior commander in the National Disaster Response Force told AFP, from the site in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. “We sent them water and food.”
The collapse occurred early Sunday morning, with rescue teams using heavy excavators to clear piles of debris in desperate efforts to reach the 40 men.
Oxygen was being pumped into the blocked portion of the tunnel, with food sent through a water pipe.
Initial contact was made via a note on a scrap of paper, but later rescuers managed to connect using radio handsets.