Dozens of people were trapped in a collapsed tunnel in the Himalayas for more than 24 hours.

About 40 workers are stuck in a tunnel after a landslide in Uttarakhand state, India Photo: SDRF/AP

Rescuers rush to help save dozens of workers who were trapped in a collapsed Himalayan tunnel in northern India for more than 24 hours.

About 40 people were working in the tunnel in Uttarakhand state when a section near the entrance collapsed. Sunday morning local time.

Officials said they were in contact with the workers and providing them with oxygen, food and water.

Rescue teams used heavy excavators to clear piles of debris in a desperate attempt to reach those trapped.

About 65 feet of rubble has already been cleared, but people are trapped about 130 feet further.

«All 40 workers trapped inside the tunnel are safe,» Karamveer Singh Bhandari, senior commander of the National Disaster Response Force, said on Monday. “We sent them water and food.”

Rescuers from the Uttarakhand State Disaster Response Force are working to free the trapped workers. Photo: SDRF/AP

Initial contact with the men was made through a note on a piece of paper, but rescuers later managed to talk to them via radio telephones.

According to Devendra Patwal, a disaster response official, Although the men are trapped, they have room to move.

“The workers are not crowded and they have a buffer of about 400 meters to walk and breathe,” he told Indian media.

“They have enough oxygen to easily survive for more than eight to ten years. hours, which should give us enough time to rescue them.»

Oxygen was pumped into the blocked part of the tunnel and food was piped in.

Photos released by officials showed huge piles of concrete blocking the tunnel, with twisted metal rods protruding from the rubble.

Multi-million dollar infrastructure project

The tunnel is part of a multi-crore infrastructure project initiated by Narendra. Modi, Prime Minister of India, whose goal is to improve transport connectivity in Uttarakhand, a mountainous and scenic state on India's border with China, and connect the Hindu shrines of Uttarkashi and Yamunotri.

The Char Dham pilgrimage project will involve some Construction The 550 miles of two-lane road cost $1.5 billion.

Uttarakhand is often called «Devbhoomi» or «Land of the Gods» due to its rich cultural heritage and abundance of Hindu religious institutions. facilities.

Accidents at large infrastructure projects are common in India, where poor engineering practices, the use of inappropriate construction materials and poor safety standards are common.

In January, at least 200 people died as a result of floods in ecologically fragile Uttarakhand in a natural disaster that experts partly blame on overdevelopment.