00:00 Rescuers were trying to send cooked food to workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in the
00:05 Indian Himalayas on Monday, as they worked on new plans to get them out.
00:11 The 41 workers have been trapped since November 12th when a three-mile highway tunnel in Uttarakhand
00:16 State caved in.
00:18 Officials were upbeat about five new plans to free the workers, including drilling vertically
00:23 from the top of the mountain, though previous attempts have ended in failure.
00:28 Rescuers were drilling a second, 60-metre-long pipe through the debris to deliver cooked
00:33 meals and a fibre-optic connection to allow the trapped men to contact their families.
00:40 President of the International Tunneling and Underground Space Association, Arnold Dix,
00:44 inspected the site.
00:46 "It's like a big 3D picture.
00:48 It's OK, now we have our idea at the top, now I have to go have another look at the
00:52 bottom.
00:53 It's like any complex job, you have to look all around it from the top, from the bottom,
01:01 and we need to discuss it.
01:02 But at the moment, it's looking positive.
01:04 And we need to compare what we've seen here, above the tunnel, with what we know is happening
01:09 in the tunnel.
01:10 And this actually helps us make the proper decision.
01:13 Because we are rescuing those 41 men, and we are not letting anyone get hurt while they're
01:20 doing it, but to do that we must be very careful with what we do, and that's why we're all
01:25 here."
01:26 Authorities gave their assurances that the men were safe, with access to oxygen, dry
01:31 food, water and medicines via pipe.
01:34 Medics said three of the trapped men had complained of dysentery.
01:37 Authorities have not said what caused the tunnels cave-in, but the region is prone to
01:42 landslides, earthquakes and floods.
01:45 Up to 60 workers were on the overnight shift at the time of the collapse.
01:49 And those near the exit managed to escape the tunnel on the national highway that is
01:53 part of the Chardham Hindu pilgrimage route.
01:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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