Tunnel collapse: Impatience growing among trapped men, kin as rescue work hits repeated hurdles

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

After her interaction with Virender this morning, Sunita said, «Today we talked about 10 minutes… He did not eat this morning. He told me that he does not want to eat… We are very anxious now. He looked very stressed and impatient.

He kept asking us when would they come out.»
Hailing from Bihar, she has come to the site along with her husband Devender and Virender's wife.
Virender's elder brother Devender said the authorities are giving them hope everyday but are yet to achieve success.
«For the last two days we are being assured by officials that they (trapped workers) are being evacuated soon but something or the other happens and the process gets delayed,» Devender said in a tone of disappointment.

The communication between the trapped workers and their relatives is facilitated by a communication system set up through a six-inch wide pipe.
An endoscopic camera was also pushed through this pipe, allowing rescue workers and relatives of the trapped men to see the condition inside.
Rescuers are now trying to push wider pipes through the rubble to create an escape passage for the trapped workers.

Drilling at the collapsed portion of the tunnel has been halted since Friday as the the auger machine faced hurdles one after another. An tunnelling expert at the site said on Saturday the machine was broken.
Rescuers are now exploring other options such as drilling the remaining stretch of 10 to 12 metres manually or creating a vertical escape passage for the 41 labourers trapped inside.