India completes pipeline, prepares to evacuate 41 trapped workers

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami of Uttarakhand state (India) said on November 28 that the work of laying pipelines inside the Silkyara road tunnel that collapsed, trapping 41 workers, has been completed, according to ANI news agency.

"All workers will be brought out soon," Mr. Dhami announced on social network X. Previously, rescue force officials and authorities said that if there were no obstacles, the rescue team would soon bring the trapped workers out.

Ambulances and rescue teams are waiting outside the tunnel entrance. Rescue teams are expected to enter and pull people out one by one. They will then be taken to hospital for medical checks.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the workers and instructed Chief Minister Dhami to ensure their safety as well as the rescue forces.

The workers have been trapped in a 4.5-km tunnel under construction in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand since part of the tunnel collapsed early on November 12. They are safe so far, with light, oxygen, food, water and medicine supplied through a narrow tube, according to Reuters.

After the drilling machine broke down, manual tunneling crews were sent from central India and had dug through 60 meters of rock and soil by the afternoon of November 28.