OAN’s Abril Elfi
11:43 AM – Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Forty-one men trapped inside a collapsed tunnel in India were finally able to receive their first hot meal in over a week.
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On Tuesday, construction workers who have been trapped in a tunnel for 10 days were provided hot, fresh meals that were carried down through a steel pipe to where they were confined.
Government Spokesperson Deepa Gaur spoke to reporters, stating that the meals, which contained rice and lentils, were delivered through a 6-inch pipe pushed through the rubble late on Monday.
After a camera was forced through the pipe by officials on Tuesday, a video was shared that showed the construction workers in their hard hats navigating the blocked tunnel and utilizing walkie-talkies to communicate with ground rescuers.
According to officials, the drilling machine used to rescue the workers “broke, due to the mountainous region” they were trapped in. Additionally, more debris fell as a result of the machine’s strong vibrations, forcing officials to temporarily halt rescue operations.
Rescuers are currently building a road of access to the hill’s summit, from which they will reportedly descend vertically. Officials on Monday said that it will probably take several days to drill down to the tunnel from a vertical perspective, and during that time, debris may fall.
To get to the trapped workers, rescue teams will have to dig 338-feet below the surface, which is almost twice as far. According to authorities, they would keep excavating horizontally from the tunnel’s mouth in the direction of the workers.
The men have been trapped since November 12th, when a landslide caused the tunnel that they were building to collapse 650-feet from the entrance.
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