Rescue operation continues for 40 workers trapped in Himalayan tunnel collapse

Rescuers in northern India battled for a second day Monday to save 40 workers trapped underground after the road tunnel they were building collapsed, bringing down tons of debris.

Teams using heavy excavators have been working nonstop since the collapse early Sunday morning to clear piles of concrete and earth, but with more debris falling as workers tried to clear a passage, a giant steel pipe was being prepared as an escape route.

All the 40 workers trapped inside the tunnel are safe,” a senior commander in the National Disaster Response Force, said. Oxygen was being pumped into the blocked portion of the tunnel, with food sent through a water pipe.