Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Rescue operation halted after snag, cracking sound | Top 10 updates
collapsed highway tunnel in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district on Friday temporarily suspended the rescue operation after hearing a sudden "cracking sound" and the drilling machine developed a snag. The state-run National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) stated that a "large-scale cracking sound" was heard during efforts to restart the drilling machine. The sound "created a panic situation in the tunnel and the team working.
Similar sounds have been noted previously and there was a "strong possibility of further collapse", the report said, adding that a meeting to discuss further steps in the rescue effort has been called. 1) A C-17 transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force has been deployed to airlift almost 22 tonnes of critical equipment from Indore to Dehradun, officials said on Friday. 2) Rescue workers have drilled through up to 24 meters of rubble in the Silkyara tunnel till Friday afternoon, inching closer to the 40 laborers trapped inside for five days.
3) The trapped workers have light, receive oxygen, food, water, and medicines via a pipe, and can communicate via walkie-talkie. Their families are waiting anxiously, some camped outside. 4) An official of the Odisha government's labor department has spoken to workers from the state trapped after the collapse of an under-construction tunnel in Uttarkashi.
Five laborers from Odisha are among the 40 workers who have been trapped there. 5) The labor department, in an official statement, said that two officials have been sent to Uttarkashi, who is coordinating with the local administration and line agencies for the safe rescue of the workers. 6) The workers from Odisha have been identified as Tapan Mandal and Bhagban Batra from
. Read more on livemint.com
