15 Jharkhand workers trapped in Uttarakhand tunnel are safe: Official

Ranchi: All the 15 workers from Jharkhand workers, who got trapped after a portion of an under-construction tunnel collapsed in Uttarakhand, are safe and likely to be rescued by Wednesday, an official said on Tuesday.

A three-member Jharkhand government team, which has already reached Uttarkashi to help in the rescue operations, took details about the workers' condition from Uttarakhand officials, a statement said.

Uttarakhand government has provided a list of 40 workers currently trapped in the under-construction tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon in Uttarkashi district.

Out of the 40 workers, 15 are from Jharkhand, the statement said, adding that nine workers, including two from Giridih, three from Khunti, three from Ranchi and one West Singhbhum, talked to their family members from inside the tunnel.

JAP-IT (Jharkhand Agency for Promotion of Information Technology) CEO Bhuvnesh Pratap Singh, who is leading the team, said all the workers from the state are safe and will be airlifted and brought back to Jharkhand.

"Food and oxygen are being supplied through pipes to the workers," the release said.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren wrote on X, "All the workers of Jharkhand trapped in the tunnel are safe. A three-member team from Jharkhand reached the spot and talked to the workers."

Rescue workers on Tuesday began the process of inserting wide steel pipes through the rubble of the collapsed under-construction tunnel on the Char Dham route to bring out the 40 labourers trapped inside for two days, officials said.

Drilling to insert the pipes has begun with the help of an 'auger machine', Uttarkashi District Magistrate Abhishek Ruhela told reporters.

"If everything goes as planned, the trapped labourers will be evacuated by Wednesday," he said after visiting the tunnel and taking an update on the operations from officials at the site.