Rescued After Over 200 Hours in Tunnel: 10 Developments

Mangalore Today News Network

Bilaspur, Sep 21, 2015:  Two of the three men trapped in a collapsed tunnel in Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh for nine days were pulled out today to loud cheers and clapping from officials, villagers and their family members.

   

The men were working on a 1200-meter tunnel, which is a part of a highway project, when a large section caved in on September 12.
   
Satish Tomar, Maniram and Hriday Ram were trapped under layers of debris and boulders.
   
A team of rescue workers reached the tunnel this afternoon after digging over a kilometer deep through a hill. They pulled out Maniram first and then Satish Tomar.
   
After using a drilling machine for three days, the team dug manually to cover the last few metres to the tunnel. 
   
Satish and Maniram had been in touch with officials through a high resolution video camera that had been through a pipe last week.
   
Their third companion, Hridya Ram, has not been seen or heard since the accident.
   
The rescue team was challenged by incessant rain, sliding debris and machine trouble as they tried to cut a path to the tunnel.
   
Using a drilling machine brought in from Jaipur, the 50-member team made a vertical shaft from the hilltop to the roof of the tunnel.
   
Cashew nuts, almonds, glucose biscuits and water were pushed down a pipe for the survivors.
   
Family members of the trapped men had camped at the site. Some of them were in tears when the drilling machine stopped working on Saturday. As the work resumed this morning, they were seen folding their hands in prayer.

 

Courtesy: NDTV