Rat mining does the trick; Stranded workers see light after 17 horrific days

UTTARKASHI: There is a sigh of relief as all workers stranded in the Slikyari tunnel have been brought out safely on Tuesday evening. It is reported that all trapped workers were brought out from the tunnel using the rat hole mining technique. Members of the National Disaster Response Force pulled them out on a stretcher tied with a rope and the workers have been shifted to a hospital that was set up temporarily on the edges of the tunnel.

Earlier it was doubted that the mission would take almost three hours for all workers to be brought out, but the rescue operations were completed within just 30 minutes time. A total of 49 ambulances have lined up near the premises of the tunnel to ferry the workers. The workers will have difficulty acclimatizing to the outside climate after being stranded for nearly 18 days in the tunnel. The outside temperature is 14 degrees Celsius and the workers will not be exposed to the climate but will be quickly transported to a medical facility that is 30 km away.