Indian workers recount fear of being stuck in tunnel

A group of 41 Indian workers were left terrified, panicked and desperate as tonnes of rocks blocked their only escape route in a road tunnel in Uttarakhand.

A group of 41 workers are trapped after a road tunnel under construction collapsed in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand on November 12. Hopes of reaching the trapped workers have been dashed several times by falling debris and problems with the drilling machine. Workers say they are struggling to keep their spirits up.

“It was not easy,” Kumar said. “After three or four days inside the collapsed tunnel and the rescue team could not reach us, the reality was that our confidence was fading.”

The workers were greeted as heroes after being carried out safely on stretchers through a narrow tunnel on November 28, ending their 17-day ordeal. They wore orange chrysanthemum garlands around their necks amid wild cheers.

"For us, the world is beautiful again," said worker Sabah Ahmad, describing the heartbreaking feeling of hearing his wife's "anxious and hopeless" voice when he learned he was trapped. "I know it's a difficult time for those trapped, but it's even more difficult for the families waiting outside."

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami (right) hugs a worker after he was rescued from the Silkyara road tunnel in Uttarkashi district on November 28. Photo: AFP

Chamra Oraon, 32, from Jharkhand state, described the horror of hearing noises and debris starting to fall inside the tunnel on November 12, followed by tonnes of rocks blocking their only escape route.

"I tried to escape but failed. When we knew we would have to stay in the tunnel for a long time, we were nervous and hungry. But we still prayed for rescue," said Oraon.

Most of the trapped workers were migrant workers from other regions. They worked at construction sites in the frigid Himalayan foothills, hundreds of kilometers from home. Rescuers set up telephone lines so that families living far away could contact the stranded workers.

"I told my family that I was fine and healthy, not to worry, everything would be fine and we would get out. But when I said those words, sometimes I had a premonition that I would never see my parents again," Kumar said.

Guriya Devi, wife of worker Sushil Kumar, said the family had been "going through terrible days and sometimes losing hope".

“We faced food and air related issues for the first 24 hours in there,” said Verma.

The workers' morale improved when the rescue team managed to get an oxygen line into the tunnel. Food was initially limited to rice flakes and nuts, but over the next few days lentils and rice were delivered in plastic bottles through the pipe.

“The situation got better after food was brought in,” Verma added.

While waiting for rescue, the workers played games because they could still charge their phones in the tunnel. "We also talked and got to know each other better," Oraon said.

When she heard that her husband, Ahmad, had been rescued, his wife Musarrat Jahan said by phone from Bihar that "no words" could describe her happiness.

"Not only was my husband reborn, we were also reborn. We will never forget that," Jahan said.

Huyen Le (According to AFP )

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