Indian rescuers are set to dig a new borehole to free 41 workers who have been trapped in a collapsed tunnel for a week, with drilling suspended due to the risk of more rock and soil collapses, AFP reported late Saturday.

Dozens of workers were trapped in a collapsed tunnel in IndiaPhoto: AP / AP / Profimedia

Bhaskar Hulbe, a senior government official involved in the rescue operation, said plans were being made to drill a vertical well, AFP and Agerpres reported. “We are considering all options to save the workers,” he said.

Rescuers work to remove debris from a road tunnel under construction in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand after it collapsed a week ago.

However, drilling of several tonnes of earth and rock inside the tunnel to reach the workers was halted on Saturday after a severe crack occurred the day before, raising fears that the ceiling could collapse.

The goal was to insert a steel pipe with a diameter of approximately 90 centimeters, through which the workers who were still alive were evacuated.

Emergency services expect it will take “four to five days, maximum” to free workers, Hulbe added, without providing further details.

Relatives say stranded workers ‘desperate’

The Press Trust of India news agency reported that “preparations to drill a vertical hole from the top of the hill” had begun.

Indian media published a photo of an excavator removing soil on top of a hill above the tunnel.

Emergency services are communicating with stranded workers via walkie-talkie. Food, water, oxygen and medicine are supplied to them through a pipe 15 centimeters wide.

According to Indian media, relatives said the workers, who have been stuck in the 400-meter-long room since November 12, are in despair. “I am in tears (…) They started asking us if we lied to them about the efforts made to save them,” one of the relatives, who did not want to be named, told the media on Saturday.

The workers were given vitamin C and medication, including antidepressant pills, RCS Panwar, a health official involved in the rescue operation, told Reuters.

The Health Department has deployed a camp ready for on-site medical examinations, with ten ambulances ready for duty.