6th Day of UP Tunnel Accident: Workers Face Risk of Trauma and Hypothermia

A huge portion of the under-construction tunnel between the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway collapsed on 12 November. 40 workers are still trapped inside the collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand. Trucks carrying pipes have arrived to create a platform for drilling and inserting metal pipes to reach the trapped workers. All the material and machinery needed for the daring operation has been brought to the site. Experts from the irrigation department have also joined the operation.

The sixth day is going on! The workers are still stuck?

The rescue teams have made little headway in cutting down the rocks that fell over a 200-meter area, trapping the workers inside the tunnel. The 40 workers were trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand for over 5 hours. Around 21 metres of slab blocking the tunnel has been removed but a passage is yet to be cleared.

Rescue teams have been struggling to free the 40 construction workers trapped under the debris for more than 120 hours after the tunnel collapsed. There are serious concerns about the health of the workers due to their long stay inside the tunnel. On 12 November, a portion of the Silkyara Tunnel under construction collapsed, trapping 40 construction workers under the debris. Specialized rescue teams from Thailand and Norway, including the team that successfully rescued children trapped in a cave in Thailand in 2018, have joined to assist in the ongoing rescue operation.

This is a highly traumatic event for those stuck workers!

“It’s a very traumatic event and their current mindset would be very apprehensive, filled with uncertainty about their future and their survival. They could be feeling fearful, helpless, traumatized, and frozen in time. They might not be able to process things,” said Dr Archana Sharma. She is a consultant clinical psychologist at Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, Delhi.

Though the laborers are safe, oxygen, electricity, medicines, food items, and water are being constantly supplied to them through pipes, as the officials said on November 15. But this incident could be traumatic for the survivors as they are likely undergoing mental strain along with physical stress, doctors said. The victims might also experience panic attacks because of being trapped in closed spaces for a long, also the doctor said, “Further, the ambient conditions such as oxygen and carbon dioxide levels too could impact their physical health and prolonged exposure to cold underground temperatures could cause hypothermia and make them fall unconscious,”