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Indian rescuers pull out all 41 workers who were trapped in tunnel for 17 days

Pushkar Singh Dhami, right, chief minister of the state of Uttarakhand, greeting a worker rescued from the site of an under-construction road tunnel that collapsed in Silkyara in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India (Uttarakhand State Department of Information and Public Relations via AP)
Pushkar Singh Dhami, right, chief minister of the state of Uttarakhand, greeting a worker rescued from the site of an under-construction road tunnel that collapsed in Silkyara in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India (Uttarakhand State Departmen Pushkar Singh Dhami, right, chief minister of the state of Uttarakhand, greeting a worker rescued from the site of an under-construction road tunnel that collapsed in Silkyara in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India (Uttarakhand State Department of Information and Public Relations via AP)
By Associated Press Reporter

All 41 construction workers who were trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in India’s north for more than two weeks have been pulled out after rescuers reached them on Tuesday, the country’s transportation minister said.

Nitin Gadkari, the minister of road transport and highways, said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was “completely relieved and happy” after all were rescued from the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi after an ordeal that lasted 17 days.

An ambulance waits to carry workers from the site of an under-construction road tunnel that collapsed in Silkyara in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India
An ambulance waits to carry workers from the site of an under-construction road tunnel that collapsed in Silkyara in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India An ambulance waits to carry workers from the site of an under-construction road tunnel that collapsed in Silkyara in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India (AP)

“I am very happy that all the 41 trapped workers have come out and their lives have been saved,” he said in a video message posted on X.

Mr Gadkari added that “this was a well-co-ordinated effort by multiple agencies, marking one of the most significant rescue operations in recent years”.