In what is being dubbed India’s one of the most challenging and dangerous rescue operations, the 41 workers trapped in the collapsed Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand were brought out on Tuesday – ending their 17-day ordeal that began on the morning of Deepavali.
A jubilant mood prevailed outside the tunnel since morning when the rescue teams announced that the rat-hole miners, in coordination with the Army, had managed to manually dig through 55 metres of debris horizontally. Just another two metres was left to reach the trapped workers then. As the family members of the trapped workers started gathering outside the tunnel, the officials asked them to pack their bags as the breakthrough was expected to be achieved by the end of the first half of the day.
