ALL 41 TRAPPED WORKERS RESCUED SUCCESSFULLY
After being rescued, the workers were taken to a hospital for medical checkups in ambulances that had been parked outside the tunnel.
Staff Reporter / WEB DESK
The 17-day long wait for the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel of Uttarakhand finally ended as all of them rescued successfully today Tuesday.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Dhami greeted the rescued workers as they emerged out of the tunnel. Earlier, it was estimated that the evacuation of one person would take 3-4 minutes.
In a post on X, the Chief Minister said that the work of evacuating the workers was onoing. “Initial health checkup of all the workers is being done in the temporary medical camp built in the tunnel,” he stated.
Munna Qureshi, a rat miner from Delhi, was the first one to reach to the other side.We’re now on
“I removed the last rock. I could see them. Then i went to the other side. I couldn’t They hugged us, lifted us. And thanked us for taking us out. We worked continuously in the last 24 hours. I can’t express my happiness. I have done it for my country,” he told media.
Prior to the first evacuation, the personnel from the SDRF and NDRF had entered the tunnel with stretchers. Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union minister VK Singh were present to welcome the workers.
A portion of the tunnel had caved in on November 12, with the debris falling in the 60-metre stretch on the Silkyara side of the tunnel, thereby trapping 41 labourers inside the under-construction structure.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari also expressed relief over the rescue of the 41 workers. In a post on X, he wrote, “I am completely relieved and happy as 41 trapped laborers in the Silkyara Tunnel Collapse have been successfully rescued.” He further credited various agencies involved for their “well-coordinated effort” and said that this was one of the most significant rescue operations in recent years.
Relatives of the workers, who had been anxiously awaiting the workers’ arrival for days now, rejoiced as the workers safely emerged from the tunnel after 17 days.