Officials in Telangana, a state in southern India, are pressing ahead to save eight construction workers who have been stranded for more than 72 hours in a hole.
Around 50 workers had been working inside the 43km ( 26.7-mile ) -long tunnel, located in Nagarkurnool district, when a part of its roof caved in early Saturday morning.
Officials claim that 43 of them were able to leave the tunnel carefully, but attempts to reach the remaining eight men have encountered numerous setbacks as a result of free ground, mud, and mud inside.
Additionally, they have been unable to create email with the people who were being held hostage or to give them oxygen and other essentials.
The chances of their life are very remote, according to Jupally Krishna Rao, a express minister directing the evacuation effort.
On Monday an expert team of “rat-hole miners” – people trained in narrow tunnel navigation – arrived to clear the debris and get to the workers. The same team had sucessfully rescued 41 construction workers trapped in a tunnel after a landslide in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand in 2023.
According to officials, approximately 33 km of construction has been completed so far, and about 10 km of it still exists.
To reach a point where they need to walk on to a conveyor belt to eliminate the dust, volunteers are using a coach. According to reports, they also continue to pump out waters to provide the pipe with oxygen. However, the rugged terrain in the area has slowed them along.
As recovery efforts get going, the families of the buried workers, the majority of whom are regular salary workers, are eagerly awaiting news of their loved ones.
” I only hope my child comes up safe this time. I did not send him away to make again”, said Rampratap Sahu, a citizen of Jharkhand condition.
A portion of the under-construction Srisailam Left Bank Canal ( SLBC ) collapsed around 13km from its opening at 8: 30 local time ( 03: 00 GMT ) on Saturday.
A slab of concrete covering leakage on the roof slipped and fell, leading to the injury. In the conflict, at least ten workers suffered injuries.
The hole is part of the longest-running water job of the Telangana government. It passes through the largest Nagarjuna Sagar-Srisailam cat reserve in India, which is situated in a high wooded region.
Construction work was resumed just four days prior to the incident, according to officials, after nearly three years of delay.
Numerous relief organizations are present at the location, including members of the American army’s National Disaster Response Force and Indian troops firefighters.
A group of rescuers was the first to leave the building on Sunday, according to authorities.
” We covered 11km by coach, 2km by conveyor belt and the remaining distance on foot”, an official, who wanted to stay anonymous, said. ” But finally we hit a roadblock”.
” There were large mounds of dirt and soft earth. The staff ‘ “boredom equipment” was turned upside down, preventing any further travel.
The rescuers claimed that because they lacked the necessary tools and equipment to clean the ice, they were forced to come back after that point.
” We shouted and screamed, whistled and pointed lights, hoping for a reply but didn’t speak anything”.