Indian rescuers pull out all 41 workers who were trapped in tunnel for 17 days

Pushkar Singh Dhami, right, chief minister of the state of Uttarakhand, greeting a worker rescued from the site of an under-construction road tunnel that collapsed in Silkyara in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, India (Uttarakhand State Department of Information and Public Relations via AP)

All 41 construction workers who were trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in India’s north for more than two weeks have been pulled out after rescuers reached them on Tuesday, the country’s transportation minister said.

Nitin Gadkari, the minister of road transport and highways, said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was “completely relieved and happy” after all were rescued from the Silkyara Tunnel in Uttarkashi after an ordeal that lasted 17 days.