Rescue teams racing to save 41 men trapped in an Uttarakhand tunnel have cleared the final few metres of debris - thanks to the banned manual "rat-hole"-mining technique being employed after high-tech machines failed.
The 41 workers trapped in an Uttarakhand tunnel for 17 days are likely to be rescued anytime now, as the manual drilling team clearing the debris that blocks their escape is metres away from reaching them.
Rescue workers have drilled through the 60-metre stretch of rubble of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel are expected to enter the steel chute pushed into the drilled passage and bring out the workers one-by-one.
The rescue team drilled through rocks and debris on Tuesday and were set to pull the trapped workers out of tunnel one by one to safety. | Latest News India
We are near a breakthrough but not yet there. Manual work has carried on and we have reached 58 metres. Our rat miners, experts and Army engineers have been able to take it to 58 metres and the pipe has been pushed with the help of the auger machine, says NDMA member.