This footage was filmed and produced 29 November 2023.

The rescue mission was expected to last only a few days. Instead, it took 17 days to reach 41 construction workers who were trapped when a landslide collapsed a mountain tunnel in northern India earlier this month. Rescuers in India began digging manually in hopes of reaching 41 construction workers who have been trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in the country’s north for over two weeks.

Dozen men were taking turns burrowing into the debris with hand-held drilling tools for what was hoped would be the final stretch. They had dug nearly 1 meter (3.2 feet) and had up to 11 more meters (36 feet) to go.

Rescuers have also started to create a vertical channel with a newly replaced drilling machine, officials said. They drilled horizontally for a week but the mountainous terrain proved too much for the machine, which broke down repeatedly before it was damaged irreparably officials said.