Rescue work to save 41 workers trapped in a tunnel in India's Uttarakhand state has been delayed again after a drilling machine developed a snag.
The US-made machine is being used to drill through the debris to create an escape route for the workers. Officials say the machine is being repaired and that drilling work is likely to restart on Friday. The workers have been stuck inside the tunnel for 12 days after a portion of it collapsed due to a landslide.
A section of the 4.5km (3 miles) Silkyara tunnel in the Indian Himalayas caved in on 12 November. Contact was established with the trapped men shortly thereafter, and they have been receiving oxygen, food, and water ever since.
Rescue officials had earlier announced that they would be able to extricate the men by Thursday morning. But the operations have been delayed after the latest technical glitch.
Arnold Dix, an international tunnelling expert who is helping the rescue operation, told reporters on Thursday evening that the drilling machine “had broken down”.
“It is being repaired and it should be back up tomorrow,” he added. The machine is drilling a hole into a 60m (197ft) debris wall that is preventing the workers from escaping the tunnel.
Authorities have been working to send multiple pipes of differing widths through the debris to create a micro-tunnel through which the workers can be brought out. The plan is to wheel the workers out on stretchers through the pipes.
But the operation is a challenging one due to the presence of rocks, stones and metal inside the debris. The operation was stalled on Wednesday too after workers encountered a thick metal rod which had to be cut using gas cutters.
Rescuers have drilled through about three-quarters of the debris so far, but it's unclear how long it will take for them to dig through the remaining part.
In the meantime, ambulances have been kept on standby outside the tunnel. Officials say the aim is to pull the workers out to safety and shift them to the nearby hospital as quickly as possible.
— CutC by bbc.com
