Sylvie Claire / November 23, 2023
Rescue workers announced on Tuesday that they had been able to bring a camera to 41 men who had been trapped for ten days in a collapsed tunnel under construction in India, and who were reportedly "safe" but whose rescue in the Indian Himalayas was proving complex.
A video released by the local authorities shows the men, who have grown beards, duly helmeted and apparently in good health, gather around the camera in the vast cavity where they have managed to find refuge.
"We'll get you out safely, don't worry," hammers an audible voice on the video's soundtrack. The camera has been moved along an enlarged emergency pipe, 15 centimetres in diameter, through which hot meals can now be delivered.
The workers have been trapped underground since November 12, when the tunnel they were working on partially collapsed, without causing any casualties, near the northern Indian town of Dehradun, in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Thanks to an initial emergency narrow tube, rescue workers were able to provide them with oxygen, water, food and radio communication very quickly, allaying concerns about their immediate survival.
However, construction of a rescue shaft to extract the workers had to be halted on Friday, for fear of causing further rockfalls.