Rescuers have broken through to 41 workers who have been trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand state in India since November 12th, 2023.

The men became trapped after a nearby landslide brought down a mountain of debris.

Since then, a 90cm diameter pipe has been inserted through the rubble and through this mechanism, the workers will be extracted one by one.

BBC reports, “Officials say the plan is to send stretchers that have ropes and wheels attached to them inside the micro-tunnel created for the workers to get out. The trapped men will lie down on the stretchers and rescuers will pull them out of the tunnel one by one. After the men are pulled out, they will be whisked to a nearby hospital by ambulances that have been kept on standby.”

Authorities have been supplying the men with oxygen, food and water through a separate narrow pipe.

Rescuers believe the exercise to extract the trapped men could take hours, according to Al Jazeera.