Efforts to rescue Indian workers trapped in a tunnel stalled Friday as the specialized drill being used to insert tubes for them to crawl out of began to lift off of the ground. Photo by Abhyudaya Kotnala/EPA-EFE
Efforts to rescue workers trapped inside a collapsed freeway tunnel under construction for nearly a week in India hit another snag on Friday when a specialized high-power drill stalled 72 feet into the debris.
The American Augur drilling machine had been making slow but steady progress since it was put into duty on Thursday but it was forced to stop after officials said its bearings were damaged. Advertisement
“The machine is not able to push further as the machine is getting lifted and bearings of the machine are getting damaged,” India’s National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation said.
Rescuers had begun anchoring the drill to the platform in hopes of keeping it in place.
At the time the drill stalled four 19-foot-long pipes had already been installed in the tunnel and another was being put into place.
A landslide sparked the collapse of the tunnel last weekend, trapping about 40 workers, in Uttarkashi and rescuers are hoping to insert the pipes to allow the workers to crawl out to safety.
Rescue organizers have called for an additional augur machine to be flown into the area but it is not expected to arrive until Saturday morning. An airlift is the only way to get the drilling machine into the mountainous region of the tunnel in a timely fashion. Advertisement
Anshu Manish Khalkho, director of India’s National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, said he remained optimistic about what has been done and the impact of a new drilling machine will have.
“We are around 78 feet inside, which I think is very good,” Khalkho said. “We are trying to reach the other side as soon as possible.
“For the redundancy of the machine already working, another machine is being airlifted from Indore and will reach here by Saturday morning. If the current machine stops, we can use that machine to finish the job.”
The migrant construction workers have been trapped more than 650 feet inside the tunnels since Sunday and it was reported that some trapped inside have started to become ill, exhibiting symptoms including dizziness, fever and vomiting.
