Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Survivors were watching movies on mobile phones, says rescued Odia worker

Bhubaneswar: The 41 workers who were trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi were watching movies on mobile phones to kill time, said Bisweswar Nayak, one of the rescued Odia workers.

“We were watching downloaded movies on mobile phones. However, we were unable to watch news due to lack of mobile network. The authorities had sent us mobile phone chargers through pipeline to keep the devices charged,” said Nayak.

“Initially, we survived on puffed rice and dry fruits. Later, the authorities provided us cooked food through the pipeline. None of us was panicking as we had established communication with the engineers outside the tunnel. We were also speaking to our family members over telephone on regular intervals,” he said.

After 17 days of rescue operation, all the 41 workers trapped inside the tunnel were safely extricated on Tuesday evening.

As soon as the workers were pulled out of the under-construction tunnel, a part of which had collapsed on November 12, they were rushed to the hospital in ambulances.