An operation to rescue 41 construction workers trapped for two weeks in a collapsed tunnel in northern India has stalled after the drilling machine used by rescuers broke down.
The machine was brought in to help drill through nearly 200 feet of debris, but stopped working Friday night and crews had to remove it, officials said.
Hand-held power tools will be used to penetrate the last 30 feet of debris instead, they added.
“The machine is broken. It’s beyond repair,” said Arnold Dix, a tunnel expert who is helping rescue teams in Uttarakhand state.
The workers, the majority of whom are foreign workers from around the country, were trapped on November 12, when part of the 2.8-mile tunnel they were building collapsed about 650 feet from the entrance due to a landslide.
The machine, called an auger, malfunctioned after hitting an obstacle, and broke while being ejected through a roughly 154-foot pipe that had been installed to help pull out a man trapped on a wheeled stretcher.
The majority of trapped workers are foreign workers. HARISH TYAGI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of Uttarakhand state, said the damaged drill would be removed on Sunday morning, allowing rescuers to continue working manually.
Rescuers are also pursuing alternative plans to reach the trapped men by digging down and a new vertical drilling machine was brought to the site Saturday.
Rescue teams for vertical drilling operations though had to dig down 338 feet to reach trapped workers – almost twice the distance of a horizontal shaft.
Authorities said the trapped man was safe and had access to oxygen, dry food and water.
The workers have been trapped since part of the tunnel collapsed on November 12. Department of Information and Pu/AFP via Getty Images Rescuers also carried out alternative plans to reach the trapped men by digging vertically.HARISH TYAGI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority overseeing the rescue effort, however warned that the operation was becoming “more complex” and that it would take longer to rescue men working by hand, than using an auger. to drill
“We need to strengthen our brothers who are trapped inside. We need to monitor their psychological state, because this operation can last for a very long time,” he said, without giving a timeline.
Sunita Hembrom, whose brother-in-law Birendra Kishku, 39, was in the tunnel, said on Saturday morning that the trapped workers were “very worried”.
Authorities said the trapped man was safe and had access to oxygen, dry food and water. AP rescue workers at the tunnel collapse site on the Brahmakal Yamunotri National Highway. HARISH TYAGI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“My brother-in-law told me that he hasn’t eaten anything since yesterday,” he said. “We are very concerned.”
Authorities have not said what caused the tunnel to collapse, but the area is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.
The tunnel under construction is part of the Chardham all-weather road, a major federal project that will connect various Hindu pilgrimage sites.
With Postal wire
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
