Uttarkashi Tunnel Rescue: Here Is How The Final Moments Played Out
Just before 8 pm on Tuesday, the good news that 1.4 billion Indians had been waiting for 17 days was announced - the first of the 41 construction workers trapped in the?Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi?has been evacuated.
Little over half an hour later, the rescue team announced that all the 41 men had been brought out safely.
But it was not smooth sailing at any stage, even during the last few moments for the rescue team.
How NDRF brought the 41 men to safety
National Disaster Relief Force personnel Manmohan Singh Rawat, who was commander of the team that went in to rescue the workers,?narrated his experience and the ordeal leading to the successful evacuation of 41 trapped workers inside the Silkyara tunnel.
"When I entered the tunnel, I asked them, 'Ap loog kaise hai? (How are you?)" I said to them, 'Do not panic.' They were very happy to see the NDRF team reaching out to them," Rawat told ANI.
Rawat was the first person in the NDRF team to crawl through the passage to the other end of the rubble.
"Three people went inside, and then some SDRF rescuers also joined us. The first worker rescued was the oldest among them... It took us around 1.5 hours to rescue all the 41 workers," he said.
What challenges did they face?
Recounting the ordeal of rescue operations lasting for 17 days, he said, "It was very challenging to supply essential food items through a pipe to workers."
"We kept assuring them that we would be reaching out to you and therefore do not panic and therefore kept their morale high during this time," he added.
Satpal, another NDRF personnel, said while speaking to ANI that the operation was "challenging" for the entire country.
"We were already informed about the complications of the operation. Four rescuers from a 12-member NDRF team were on the frontlines and had to march ahead of the tunnel. Four personnel were kept on backup to pull out the workers."
How NDRF personnel entered the tunnel?
"We crawled through the 800-mm-diameter pipes to reach them. We had stretchers behind us. We had an oxygen cylinder and water bottles with us," Sachin Chaudhary, another NDRF personnel from Rajasthan's Alwar, recalled.
The NDRF personnel sent out the older ones among the labourers -- about 10-12 of them -- on wheeled stretchers through the passage while the rest crawled through the steel chute wearing knee pads and helmets.
Why it calls for a celebration?
"We had confidence in our training. We were sure that we will succeed in evacuating them, and we did," Chaudhary said.
NDFR had all the reasons to celebrate, which they did by cutting a cake after the successful completion of the operation.
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