After digging constantly for 17 days, all 41 trapped miners were evacuated

All 41 of the workmen who had been stuck in Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel since November 12 have been safely freed by rescuers in northern India, CNN reported. When a part of the tunnel collapsed, blocking their only escape route with more than 60 meters of rubble, the workers involved in its construction were stranded. The heavy gear that was being used to dig through the rubble broke down during the rescue attempts, forcing the employment of riskier alternative tactics including hand excavation. Engineers successfully executed a backup plan that involved drilling downward through the mountainous terrain despite difficulties. To get the workers to safety, rescuers then put a big hose through the escape shaft. Through a 53-meter conduit, the laborers—all migrants from some of India's economically challenged states—were fed and kept healthy.