First images show workers trapped in Indian tunnel for nine days, drilling resumes

A Hindu priest prays at a makeshift shrine outside the entrance of a tunnel where workers are trapped after a portion of the tunnel collapsed in Uttarkashi in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, November 21, 2023. REUTERS/Saurabh Sharma

SILKYARA, India (Reuters) -The first images emerged on Tuesday of 41 men trapped for more than a week in a highway tunnel in the Indian Himalayas, showing them standing in the confined space and communicating with rescue workers as drilling resumed to pull them to safety.

The men have been stuck in the 4.5-km (3-mile) tunnel in Uttarakhand state since it caved in early on Nov. 12 and are safe, authorities said, with access to light, oxygen, food, water and medicines.