India contacts Thai youth soccer team rescue team to help rescue 40 workers trapped in tunnel

Forty men were trapped in a tunnel that collapsed during construction in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand on November 12, according to CNN. Rescue efforts are becoming more urgent amid reports that some of the victims are suffering from serious health problems.

Four days after the incident, authorities sent rescue teams from the capital New Delhi to dig a tunnel to rescue workers. The move came as relatives of the victims gathered outside the tunnel entrance.

Authorities are considering all options to reach the victims, including contacting rescue teams experienced in complex rescue missions.

Uttarkashi district information officer Kirti Panwar said India is getting help from special rescue teams from Norway and Thailand.

“The rescue team has contacted the Thai company that rescued the boys’ soccer team trapped in the cave,” the statement added. In 2018, 12 boys and their coach were rescued by a team of professional divers after being trapped in the flooded Tham Luang cave for nearly three weeks.

According to CNN, the Indian government has also contacted the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) for help. In a statement on November 16, NGI said its Indian partner - a company that serves the country's Railways - is assisting in the rescue operation, but the agency is not currently involved in the rescue.

All of those trapped in the tunnel were migrant workers from other states. The tunnel that collapsed was part of a project to upgrade India’s transport network. During construction, the entrance collapsed, trapping them about 60 metres inside the mountain with little oxygen, food or water.

Authorities contacted the victims immediately after the incident and immediately launched a rescue operation to bring them out safely. Authorities also urgently coordinated with local police, the National Disaster Management Agency and the State Disaster Response Fund to rescue the workers.

Initially, rescuers tried to dig through the rubble to reach the victims, but more and more debris fell.

“The rock is very fragile, the more we drill, the more it crumbles,” said Anshu Manish Khalkho, chief administrative and finance officer of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation. “We are trying every technique we have.”

Authorities then switched to using a drill to create a hole large enough for the workers to crawl to safety. However, this plan had to be stopped halfway because of the complicated landslide and the drill was not powerful enough. Late on November 15, a more powerful drill was brought to the scene to drill a hole to create an escape route.

“If that fails, we still have third and fourth backup plans. We are looking at all options to get the victims out,” Mr Khalkho said.

Meanwhile, oxygen, medicine and food supplies were being delivered to the victims through another small pipe. Doctors at the scene said some workers had developed worrying symptoms such as headaches and nausea.

Dr Pokriyal said the 40 men trapped inside the tunnel, which is about 1km long, were suffering from anxiety and gastritis.

“They kept asking us to get them out quickly. So I spent time counseling and encouraging them. We sent medicines, dried fruits, green beans and rice crackers to the victims,” he added.

The tunnel that collapsed was part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s multi-million dollar Char Dham Expressway project, which is expected to stretch nearly 1,000km and improve access to key pilgrimage sites from the capital New Delhi.

Environmentalists have criticized the Char Dham project, warning that it could cause serious damage to the Himalayan region, where millions of people are already suffering from the climate crisis. Experts fear that the heavy drilling will weaken the already fragile terrain, causing more landslides and flash floods.

The tunnel collapse is one of the most high-profile construction disasters in India, a country that is rapidly transforming its infrastructure and spending billions of dollars to upgrade its transport network.

In August, at least 10 workers died after a bridge under construction collapsed in the northeastern state of Mizoram. In June, a four-lane concrete bridge under construction across the Ganges in the eastern state of Bihar collapsed for the second time in just over a year, raising questions about the quality of construction in the world’s most populous country.