Workers may be rescued in few hours or by tomorrow: NDMA on Silkyara tunnel collapse

New Delhi : National Disaster Management Authority on Thursday said there could be a "success" in bringing out 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand in the next few hours or by Friday.

Briefing media about the ongoing rescue operations, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, also added that it would not be fair to speculate on the timeline for rescue operations as it is just like fighting a war. He also said that rescue work had stopped and is likely to start again shortly.

The NDMA member also said that the horizontal drilling to rescue workers may face 3-4 more hurdles. He further said that 41 ambulances, one each for trapped workers, are in place at the tunnel site, and also facilities are in place to airlift workers in serious condition. The men have been trapped for 11 days after a portion of the under-construction tunnel on the Uttarakhand Char Dham route collapsed, cutting off its exit. Rescue operations to evacuate the workers resumed on Thursday morning after an overnight hurdle delayed the drilling by several hours.