Uttarkashi tunnel collapse: Rescuers establish communication with trapped workers, food, water being supplied

Rescuers who worked overnight to rescue around 40 workers trapped after an under-construction tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri National Highway collapsed here have established contact with them and provided them with food and water, officials said on Monday.

The workers are safe and have asked for food, which is being sent to them, the Silkyara police control room said, adding that communication has been established on walkie-talkies. Food packets have been supplied with the help of compressors, it said.

Dredging and drilling through the debris inside the under-construction tunnel between Silkyara and Dandalgaon is going on to prepare an escape passage for the trapped labourers, according to the district emergency operation centre.