UTTARKASHI, India—After nearly two weeks of digging and delays, 41 construction workers might be rescued from a collapsed highway tunnel in northern India later Thursday.
After a six-hour delay caused by a metal object in the debris harming the drilling machine's blades, the drilling of the last stretch continued.
“The machine has started operating again in full swing. So we are hopeful that it will finish early,” said Atul Karwal, chief of the state-run National Disaster Response Force.
“We should be able to rescue them in today’s date,” Mr. Karwal told reporters at the site.
The workers have been trapped since November 12, when a landslide collapsed a section of the 4.5-kilometer (2.8-mile) tunnel they were constructing about 200 meters (650 feet) from the entrance.
Mr. Karwal claimed that Pushkar Singh Dhami, the state's top elected official, visited the site on Thursday and chatted with some of the workers in the tunnel via walkie-talkie.
According to Kirti Panwar, a state government spokeswoman at the disaster site, the drilling had reached roughly 46 meters (151 feet) and needed to excavate up to 12 meters (40 feet) farther to establish a route.
Rescue personnel intend to install and weld together pipes that will serve as the trapped workers' escape route. Mr. Panwar stated that around 46 meters of pipe had been installed thus far.
Members of the National Disaster Response Force "will then crawl inside and bring out the workers one by one, most likely on stretchers with wheels," he explained.
After complications with the equipment caused them to stop digging last week and contemplate other rescue options, rescuers started horizontal drilling through the tunnel's entrance on Wednesday.
The drilling machine broke down when rescuers attempted to bore horizontally toward the stranded workers due to the steep terrain in Uttarakhand. The high-intensity vibrations of the machine also caused more debris to fall.
Ambulances and a team of 15 physicians were dispatched to the accident scene on Wednesday evening, according to PTI.
Relatives who had gathered there informed the Press Trust of India news agency that they were now feeling hopeful after days of worrying about the rescue and their captive loved ones.
Indrajeet Kumar expressed optimism and relief after speaking with his brother and another cousin who were among the workers trapped in the collapsing tunnel.
“They told me not to worry and that we would soon meet outside,” he said, adding that both of them “were doing fine.”
After days of living on dry food transported through a smaller conduit, authorities began delivering the besieged workers with hot meals consisting of rice and lentils through a 6-inch (15.24 cm) pipe earlier this week. They are supplied with oxygen via a separate pipe.
After a camera was inserted down the pipe, officials released a video on Tuesday showing workers in construction helmets maneuvering around the clogged tunnel while talking with rescuers on the ground via walkie-talkies.
Uttarakhand is densely packed with Hindu temples, and highway and building development has been ongoing to keep up with the influx of pilgrims and visitors. The tunnel is part of the Chardham all-weather route, a major government project that connects several Hindu pilgrimage destinations.
