Drill is destroyed during rescue of buried tunnel victims
For almost two weeks, 41 construction workers have been trapped in a buried tunnel in India. The rescue teams have suffered repeated setbacks in their attempts to rescue them. Most recently, great hope was pinned on a special drill - which has now been irreparably damaged.
The drama surrounding construction workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel in India for almost two weeks continues: After another setback in the attempt to make their way horizontally to the 41 trapped workers, the rescue teams were now once again working flat out on other solutions as well.
On Friday, the rescue teams once again encountered obstacles while drilling through the rubble of the collapsed tunnel: Just nine meters before breaking through to the trapped men, the huge special drill hit thick metal beams and buried construction vehicles. This apparently destroyed the drill. According to Australian tunnel expert Arnold Dix, who is supporting the work on site, the drill can no longer be repaired. However, the rescuers still hoped to be able to rescue the construction workers using a narrow steel pipe as a rescue tunnel.
At the same time, other teams brought a heavy excavator to the wooded hill above the tunnel to drill a shaft almost 90 meters deep to the trapped victims, as reported by an AFP reporter on site. However, the work above the heads of the 41 construction workers is complex and dangerous. Work has also begun on digging a new rescue shaft from the other end of the tunnel. At an estimated 480 meters, however, this route would be significantly longer than the other two options.
The head of government of the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami, emphasized that authorities and international experts are working on all options. In any case, "we will soon be able to recover our brothers safely", he explained in online media.
Despite the setbacks, international experts and rescue teams continue their efforts to save the trapped construction workers. The misfortune in the Himalayan region of India has brought attention to the need for robust bridges and tunnels to prevent such tragedies in the future.
Source: www.ntv.de
