Falling debris hampers rescue of 40 workers trapped in Indian tunnel
Loose rocks have been falling into a tunnel that rescuers are trying to create and this is the main challenge facing the operation at the moment, said a top official in Uttarakhand state, where the disaster occurred.
The men are trapped in an area of about 50 metres and are safe, officials said, with food, water and oxygen being supplied through a pipe since the collapse early on Sunday, and frequent contact is being made with them through walkie-talkies.
«The plan is to drill through the debris, put mild steel pipes in it and make a path for the labourers to move,» Ranjit Sinha, the top disaster management officer in Uttarakhand, told Reuters by phone.
«The only challenge is to remove the debris as it is very loose and it keeps coming back.»
India's Himalayas are prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods. The tunnel collapse follows incidents of land subsidence that have been blamed on rapid construction in the mountains.
A high-powered auger drilling machine is being set up at the site to cut through the debris at 2.5 metres an hour as opposed to one metre by the previous machine that suffered a glitch, Sinha said.
An estimated 50 metres remains to be drilled through before the trapped workers are reached, said Anshu Manish Khalkho, an official of the state-run highway management company NHIDCL.
CRITICISM
There were up to 60 men on the night shift in the 4.5-km (3-mile) tunnel when it caved in before dawn.
