New Delhi, India CNN —
Cheers greeted a group of 41 workers as they emerged from a collapsed tunnel beneath the Himalayas on Tuesday, the culmination of an incredible and dangerous weeks-long rescue operation that involved drilling through rock and rubble.
The men had been trapped for 17 days during the recovery team’s exercise an escape route through the mountain – with many setbacks as technical problems arose – before the final few meters were drilled by hand.
Francis Mascarenhas/Portal
Rescue of workers stuck in the Silkyara Tunnel since November 12 began on Tuesday.
Video footage from the scene showed Uttarakhand state chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami meeting the workers as they emerged from the tunnel amid jubilant scenes.
All 41 workers appear to be healthy, Dhami confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday evening local time.
“Since they come from a completely different background, we will follow the doctor’s advice. You will initially be monitored. Nobody is critical,” Dhami said.
“None of their symptoms are weakness or fever, they are all healthy. Although there were stretchers for them to come out on, they chose to come out on their own,” he said, before thanking the workers, engineers and government agencies who helped coordinate the rescue mission.
Government of Uttarakhand
A father greets his son who was trapped in the tunnel for 17 days.
Government of Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Rushkar Singh Dhami hugs one of the rescued workers.
The rescued workers will each receive checks worth 100,000 rupees (about $1,200), Dhami said.
“We will also ask the company to allow these 41 workers to go home and spend time with their families for 15 days, 20 days or a month,” Dhami said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the successful rescue “makes everyone emotional” in a statement to X.
“I want to say to the men who were trapped in the tunnel that your courage and patience inspire everyone,” he wrote.
“I also acknowledge the spirit of all the people involved in this rescue operation. Their courage and determination have given our working brothers a new life. Everyone involved in this mission has set an amazing example of humanity and teamwork,” Modi added.
The men had been trapped since Nov. 12, when the portion of the tunnel they were helping to build in India’s northern state of Uttarakhand gave way, leaving their only exit through more than 60 meters (200 feet) of broken rock, concrete and twisted rock Metal blocked.
Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images
Rescue workers pictured at the entrance to the tunnel.
The first workers were withdrawn after a series of agonizing setbacks, with rescue efforts halted when the heavy machinery used to drill through the rubble failed, forcing workers to partially dig by hand and use other riskier methods to clear it to bring to safety.
Engineers initially used a power drill to break through the rubble, but had to abandon their effort late Friday after the powerful U.S.-made machine collapsed just meters from the trapped men, forcing them to dig by hand dig.
At the same time, the rescuers drilled their way down through the unstable mountain terrain in order to reach the trapped men as an alternative. But in the end, the original plan proved successful.
After the drilling was completed, rescuers pushed a large pipe through the final portion of the exit shaft to bring the men to safety.
Francis Mascarenhas/Portal
Ambulances line up near the factory to free trapped workers in Uttarakhand, India, on November 28, 2023.
The workers – all migrant workers from some of India’s poorest states – received food, water and oxygen through a 53-meter-long pipe threaded through the rubble, and authorities say they remain in good health.
The doctors on site are in regular contact with the men inside and give them tips on how to stay positive and calm. Their families gathered at the tunnel exit every day to pray for their safe return.
The tunnel is part of Modi’s Char Dham Highway route, a controversial multimillion-dollar project to be modernized. to improve the country’s transport network and improve connectivity to important Hindu pilgrimage sites in the region.
The project has been criticized by environmentalists who say the heavy construction could seriously damage the Himalayan region, where millions are already feeling the effects of the climate crisis.
An expert panel told India’s Supreme Court that construction of the highways “will lead to further landslides and soil erosion in an already sensitive environment,” a 2020 court report said.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the tunnel collapse and are expected to examine the role of drilling on the mountain. CNN has contacted India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The tunnel collapse is one of several recent construction disasters that have made headlines in India, a country that has been rapidly transforming its infrastructure and investing billions to modernize its transport network.
In August, more than a dozen workers died after a bridge under construction collapsed in the northeastern state of Mizoram. In June, a four-lane concrete bridge being built over the Ganges in the eastern state of Bihar collapsed for the second time in just over a year, raising questions about the quality of its construction.
This story has been updated with additional developments.