UPDATES
Indian rescuers still 40 metres away from workers trapped in collapsed tunnel
Thu, November 16, 2023
Police officers stand guard next to a barricade past the entrance of a tunnel where 40 road workers are trapped after a portion of the tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi
By Saurabh Sharma
SILKYARA, India (Reuters) - Rescuers drilled about one-third of the way into the debris of a collapsed highway tunnel in India by Friday morning to reach 40 workers trapped inside for five days, officials said.
Drilling had penetrated through about 21 metres (70 feet) of debris, Devendra Singh Patwal, a disaster management officer, told Reuters.
They have to cover a total distance of nearly 60 meters.
Another officer with the rescue team inside the tunnel said the trapped men were doing fine.
The workers have been supplied with food, water and oxygen through a pipe and authorities have been in contact with them via walkie-talkies.
The 4.5 km (3 mile) tunnel in the northern state of Uttarakhand is part of the Char Dham highway, one of the most ambitious projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
Authorities have not said what caused the tunnel to cave in on Sunday morning, but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.
(Reporting by Saurabh Sharma, writing by Tanvi Mehta and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
Thu, November 16, 2023
Police officers stand guard next to a barricade past the entrance of a tunnel where 40 road workers are trapped after a portion of the tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi
By Saurabh Sharma
SILKYARA, India (Reuters) - Rescuers drilled about one-third of the way into the debris of a collapsed highway tunnel in India by Friday morning to reach 40 workers trapped inside for five days, officials said.
Drilling had penetrated through about 21 metres (70 feet) of debris, Devendra Singh Patwal, a disaster management officer, told Reuters.
They have to cover a total distance of nearly 60 meters.
Another officer with the rescue team inside the tunnel said the trapped men were doing fine.
The workers have been supplied with food, water and oxygen through a pipe and authorities have been in contact with them via walkie-talkies.
The 4.5 km (3 mile) tunnel in the northern state of Uttarakhand is part of the Char Dham highway, one of the most ambitious projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.
Authorities have not said what caused the tunnel to cave in on Sunday morning, but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.
(Reporting by Saurabh Sharma, writing by Tanvi Mehta and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
BISWAJEET BANERJEE
November 16, 2023
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Rescuers drilled deeper into the rubble of a collapsed road tunnel in northern India on Friday to fix wide pipes for 40 workers trapped underground for a sixth day to crawl to their freedom.
Drilling with a new machine started on Thursday and has covered a stretch of 24 meters (78 feet) so far, Devendra Patwal, a disaster management official, said.
It may require up to 60 meters (195 feet) to enable the trapped workers' escape, Patwal told The Associated Press on Friday.
Patwal said the rescuers hoped to complete the drilling by Friday night and create an escape tunnel of pipes welded together.
Some of the workers felt fever and body aches Wednesday, but there has been no deterioration in their condition, he said. Nuts, roasted chickpeas, popcorn and medicine are being sent to them via a pipe every two hours.
The construction workers have been trapped since Sunday, when a landslide caused a portion of the 4.5-kilometer (2.7-mile) tunnel they were building to collapse about 200 meters (500 feet) from the entrance. The hilly area is prone to landslide and subsidence.
The site is in Uttarakhand, a mountainous state dotted with Hindu temples that attract many pilgrims and tourists. Highway and building construction has been constant to accommodate the influx.
The tunnel is part of the busy Chardham all-weather road, a flagship federal project connecting various Hindu pilgrimage sites.
About 200 disaster relief personnel have been at the site using drilling equipment and excavators in the rescue operation, with the plan to push 80-centimeter-wide (2.6-foot-wide) steel pipes through an opening of excavated debris.
A machine used earlier in the week was slow in pushing the pipes through the debris, a state government statement said.
The new American Auger machine has a drilling capacity of up to 5 meters (16 feet) per hour and is equipped with a 990 centimeters (2.9 feet) diameter pipe to clear debris. At times, it is slowed down by the pile of rubble.
State officials have contacted Thai experts who helped rescue a youth soccer team trapped in a cave in Thailand in 2018, state government administrator Gaurav Singh said. They also have approached the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute for possible help.
No comments:
Post a Comment