India jubilant as 41 workers trapped in tunnel saved

UTTARKASHI, India — All 41 construction workers who had been trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in northern India for more than two weeks were pulled out on Tuesday, bringing a happy end to a drawn-out rescue mission that had gripped the country for days.

Locals, relatives and government officials erupted in joy, and set off firecrackers as smiling workers began emerging from the tunnel entrance. Officials hung floral garlands around the necks of the first rescued workers as the crowd cheered.

Draped in garlands of orange marigold, they were greeted with wild cheers.

"The world is again beautiful for us," rescued worker Sabah Ahmad told Agence France-Presse, describing the heartache of hearing his wife's "worried and hopeless" voice while he was trapped.

"I know it was a difficult moment for those inside and more difficult for families outside," said Ahmad. "But at last we have come out, and it is the only thing that matters."

Nitin Gadkari, the country's minister of road transport and highways, said in a video posted on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that he was "completely relieved and happy" after all of the workers were rescued from the Silkyara Tunnel in the northern Indian town of Uttarkashi following the 17-day ordeal.

'Significant rescue'

"This was a well-coordinated effort by multiple agencies, marking one of the most significant rescue operations in recent years," Gadkari said.

No one was seriously injured or killed when the tunnel collapsed early on the morning of Nov 12. The workers were finishing their shifts and many were likely looking forward to celebrating Diwali, the festival of lights, that day.

Since early in their ordeal, the workers were provided with food, water and oxygen through pipes, and they emerged healthy, officials said. They were extracted one by one on a wheeled stretcher that was pulled through a roughly 1-meter-wide tunnel of welded pipes that crews had pushed through the collapsed rocks.

Before emerging to the cameras and crowd and being whisked away in ambulances, each worker was given a checkup at a makeshift medical camp at the tunnel entrance.

The rescue mission had many on edge. The workers got trapped when a landslide caused a portion of the tunnel they were building to collapse about 200 meters from the entrance.

The rescue was expected to be straightforward and last only a few days, but a series of setbacks led to its expansion and the workers being trapped for more than two weeks.

Agencies Via Xinhua