41 ambulances on standby outside tunnel to take workers to hospital

Forty-one ambulances remain on standby at the collapsed Silkyara tunnel’s entrance in Uttarakhand, ready to take the workers away to the nearest medical facility. A green corridor has been established to ensure a swift and organised response, allowing the rescued workers to be rapidly transported to the Chinyalisaur Community Health Centre, located 30 km from the tunnel. A designated ward has also been set up with 41 oxygen-equipped beds, prepared to provide each worker with prompt medical care. The road leading to the tunnel, uneven as a result of relentless heavy vehicle traffic over the past two weeks, is being repaired with a fresh layer of soil to enable the unimpeded passage of ambulances. Several security personnel positioned at the tunnel’s periphery to swiftly implement the evacuation protocol upon the emergence of workers from the rescue passage. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said today that the pipe-laying work to reach the trapped workers has been completed. “As a result of immense grace of Baba Baukh Nagji (and) prayers of crores of countrymen and the tireless work of all rescue teams… the work of laying pipes in the tunnel to take out the workers has been completed. Soon all the labourer brothers will be taken out,” Dhami wrote in Hindi on X. A team of 24 seasoned “rat-hole mining” experts are involved in the manual drilling process and excavate a narrow passageway toward the trapped workers. Rescue officials played down concerns about the workers’ ability to navigate through the two-and-a-half feet diameter pipes, highlighting their prior experience working in 2-foot pipes. To ensure their safety, each worker will be equipped with a helmet, a uniform, a mask, and glasses.