Miraculous rescue of Indian tunnel collapse: 41 miners were trapped for 17 days and all survived

【2023. 11. 29 India】

Miraculous rescue of Indian tunnel collapse: 41 miners were trapped for 17 days and all survived

“Breaking through the rock formations, 41 people survived.” A tunnel collapse accident occurred in Uttarakhand, India. 41 miners were trapped for 17 days and were finally rescued on November 28. In order to rescue the workers, the rescue team adopted a variety of solutions, including vertical drilling and building escape tunnels. Finally, they successfully pushed an escape pipe to a depth of nearly 60 meters and manually dug a 5-meter-long “rat hole” that would be All trapped workers were rescued safely, and the rescued persons are generally in good health. This rescue operation received high attention in India. Indian President Droupadi Murmu expressed that he was happy and relieved that the workers were rescued. After the rescue operation is completed, the Indian government will also begin to investigate the main cause of the tunnel collapse.

The Silkyari tunnel in Uttarakashi district of Uttarakhand collapsed on November 12 during the Diwali festival, trapping 41 miners. In order to rescue this group of miners, a marathon rescue operation was launched locally. The focus of the rescue is to establish an escape passage that can allow the trapped miners to leave the tunnel safely, and to ensure that the workers have oxygen, food, and drinking water supplies during the establishment of the passage.

On the second day of the rescue operation, the rescuers used a 120-centimeter-long pipe to transport dry food and provide oxygen as a “lifeline” for the trapped miners. They also communicated with the trapped miners for the first time; and on the first day of the rescue, , in order to stabilize the tunnel structure, the rescue team carried out shotcrete construction, but it was stopped on the second day due to falling gravel.

On the 3rd day, the rescue team began several days of machine drilling work. In order to prevent the construction from causing more parts of the tunnel to collapse, drilling was temporarily suspended. Later, on the 7th day, they decided to adopt a variety of solutions, including vertical drilling and establishing escapes. aisle. On the 10th day, the rescue team saw the trapped miners for the first time by pushing a medical endoscopic camera into the pipe (previously they relied on walkie-talkies to communicate); as the drilling work progressed, the escape pipe was pushed deeper and deeper. , it reached a depth of 45 meters on the 11th day, enough to provide the trapped miners with their first hot meal in many days.

The drilling work continued until the 13th day. Due to continuous collision with hard objects, a mixed method was adopted, and the workers involved in the rescue manually removed the gravel to clear the way for the auger drill. On the 16th day, 24 traditional miners finally dug with hand-held drills. The last 5 meters of gravel were cleared using the “rat-hole” method. On the 17th day, the trapped miners were finally rescued one by one through an escape pipe pushed into a depth of about 60 meters.

After the trapped miners were rescued, relatives, friends and local residents who had been waiting outside the tunnel for a long time immediately celebrated with warm cheers, sent flowers and garlands, set off firecrackers and distributed candies. Subsequently, the trapped miners were sent to a hospital about 30 kilometers away for examination and observation. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on the 29th that the health of the workers was generally good and none of them was in critical condition.

A rescue worker told the BBC:

The Uttarakhand government also issued a statement:

Indian President Murmu also said on Twitter (now renamed X):

“I am relieved and happy to know that all the workers trapped in the tunnel in Uttarakhand have been rescued. They endured 17 days of hardship and encountered many difficulties in the rescue operation. This is a testament to human endurance. The whole country pays tribute to their efforts. Salute to our resilience and thank them for building critical infrastructure far from home, regardless of personal risk.”

The rescue operation has received very wide attention in India, and after the trapped miners are rescued, the Indian government will also begin to investigate why the Silkyari Tunnel collapsed; Uttarakhand is located in northern India, bordering Tibet to the north and Nepal to the east, 80% The land is the Himalayas and glaciers, and is the source of the Yamuna River, a tributary of the Ganges. The Silkyari Tunnel is part of India’s major construction project, the Char Dham Project, which has a budget of up to US$1.5 billion and will cover two The highway connects the Himalayas to Badrinath, a Hindu holy site in Uttarakhand.

However, this area is an active area of ​​crustal activity in the Himalayas. It has a history of strong earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.8, and the terrain is also quite fragile. The rapid construction of the Char Dham project has already aroused criticism from environmentalists and local residents, who are worried that more frequent earthquakes will occur. Landslides, collapses and other situations, the Silkyari Tunnel collapse accident also made many locals suspect that the cause was the impact of the Char Dham Project.