The NDRF and SDRF teams in a joint rescue mission with the Rat Miners from Uttar Pradesh and personnel of the Indian Army completed a successful rescue mission at the Silkyara tunnelt in Uttarakhand. All 41 workers were rescued after days of relentless rescue operations by personnel from NDRF and SDRF.

In the final stage, personnel from the Indian Army and "Rat-Hole" miners from Uttar Pradesh teamed up to manually burrow through the last 10-12 meters of rubble to rescue the workers. The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Pushkar Singh Dhami and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari were among the ministers present at the site during the final hours of rescue. The workers, as per reports have been shifted to the hospital for medical check ups.

उत्तरकाशी की सिलक्यारा सुरंग में फंसे श्रमिक भाइयों की सुरक्षित वापसी बहुत ही खुशी का समाचार है। उन्हें और उनके परिवारों को मेरी दिली बधाई।

भारत का निर्माण करने वाले हमारे मज़दूर भाइयों की सुरक्षा सर्वोपरि है। इस मुश्किल अभियान को सफल बनाने वाले सभी जांबाज़ों को मेरा सलाम है।…

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 28, 2023

The workers had been trapped for 17 days inside a collapsed tunnel at Silkyara in Uttarakhand. Personnel from the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force have been working relentlessly under the watch of the state government for the last 17 days.

External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar expressed gratitude to the workers involved in the rescue mission and commended the grit and determination of the trapped miners.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the manual miners played a big role in the rescue operation and added that international experts were consulted to define the shortest route for rescuing the workers.