DEHRADUN, India: Forty-one Indian workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel for 10 days were seen alive on camera for the first time Tuesday as workers attempted to create new passageways to free them.
One of the proposed routes is nearly half a kilometer (over a quarter of a mile) long.
Looking exhausted and anxious, with thick beards, the men could be seen peering at the endoscopic camera sent by rescuers down the thin pipe through which air, food and water are being sent.
“We will bring you out safely, do not worry,” rescuers can be heard telling the helmet-wearing men trapped inside as they gather near the camera, video released by state authorities shows.
Excavators have been removing tons of earth, concrete and rubble from the under-construction tunnel in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand since November 12, after a portion of the tunnel collapsed.
But rescue efforts have been slow, complicated by falling debris as well as repeated breakdowns of crucial heavy drilling machines, with the air force having to twice airlift in new kit.
Before the camera was introduced, rescuers had been communicating with the men inside using radios.
“All the workers are completely safe,” Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said in a statement. “We are trying with all our might to get them out safely soon.”
Dhami said he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the men, adding Modi told him it had to be their “top priority” to get the workers out.
Engineers had been trying to horizontally drive a steel pipe just wide enough for the increasingly desperate men through at least 57 meters (187 feet) of earth and rock that block their escape.
But the giant earth-boring machine they were using ran into boulders it could not get through.
Drilling on that route was paused on Friday after a cracking sound created a “panic situation,” officials said.
Rescue teams are now preparing two new approaches to reach the men.
One is drilling a vertical shaft down from the forested hill above, forcing workers to cut an entirely new track to the top for the heavy equipment needed.
Officials estimated the proposed vertical shaft would need to be 89 meters (291 feet) deep, a potentially complex dig above the men in an area that has already suffered a collapse.
The other is to approach from the far side of the road tunnel, a far longer route of more than 450 meters, according to Indian media reports.
The tube used to deliver supplies to the men was successfully widened on Monday with the installation of a 15-centimeter (six-inch) pipe, through which the camera was sent down.
It is hoped that a drone can also be sent down to assess the stability of the area where the men are trapped.
Hot meals were also delivered through the new pipe for the first time.
“We have sent 24 bottles with meals and bananas to the trapped workers,” top local civil servant Abhishek Ruhela said.
Experts have warned about the impact of extensive construction in Uttarakhand, where large parts of the state are prone to landslides.
The planned 4.5-kilometer tunnel is part of Modi’s infrastructure plans aimed at cutting travel times between some of the most popular Hindu sites in the country, as well as improving access to strategic areas bordering rival China.
Foreign experts have been drafted in, including Australian independent disaster investigator Arnold Dix, president of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association.
“Those 41 men are coming home,” Dix told the Press Trust of India news agency. “Exactly when? Not sure.”
Indian workers trapped in tunnel for 10 days seen on camera
https://arab.news/7nnqy
Indian workers trapped in tunnel for 10 days seen on camera
- Excavators have been removing tons of earth, concrete and rubble from the under-construction tunnel since November 12
- Rescue teams are now preparing two new approaches to reach the men
Belgian court throws out Covid vaccine case against EU chief
- The Liege appeals court “declared inadmissible” a set of complaints brought in 2023 by Belgian former lobbyist Frederic Baldan
- The court “found the complainants wrong across the board,” von der Leyen’s lawyer Adrien Masset said
BRUSSELS: A Belgian court dismissed a lawsuit against EU chief Ursula von der Leyen centered on text messages she exchanged with the head of vaccine maker Pfizer during negotiations for Covid jabs, her lawyer said on Tuesday.
Another source close to the case confirmed to AFP that the Liege appeals court “declared inadmissible” a set of complaints brought in 2023 by Belgian former lobbyist Frederic Baldan, as he could not prove suffering “personal harm.”
The court “found the complainants wrong across the board,” von der Leyen’s lawyer Adrien Masset told AFP.
The EU moved swiftly after the Covid pandemic emerged in 2020 to secure vaccines for member countries to buy for their citizens and residents, at a time of massive global demand for the shots.
But many aspects of the procurement from key supplier Pfizer have been kept confidential, leading to claims of a lack of transparency — and several legal proceedings.
Last year Baldan, who argued that von der Leyen both overstepped her role and violated the commission’s code of conduct, lost a similar lawsuit in Brussels.
Another complaint filed by The New York Times against the commission for failing to release the texts despite a freedom of information request is being heard by the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union.
Various anti-vaccine groups and personalities, as well as Hungary and Poland, had joined Baldan’s Liege case, which contested the ability of the EU prosecutor’s office (EPPO) to effectively investigate the matter.
The EPPO, an independent body fighting fraud involving EU funds, opened a still-ongoing probe into vaccine purchases in 2022.
“The EU has now become an area of non-freedom, insecurity and injustice,” Baldan said of his latest court defeat.
The commission does not dispute that the text messages existed but says they did not constitute part of the vaccine negotiation — and are no longer available.
Russia blasts US reinstatement of Cuba on terror list
- Trump on Monday reversed his predecessor Joe Biden’s decision to remove Cuba from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism
- The move is unjustified because Cuba is an active participant in “international cooperation on counter-terrorism,” Zakharova said
MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesday slammed US President Donald Trump for reinstating its ally Cuba on a list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying the measure was aimed at destabilising the island and prompting regime change.
Trump on Monday reversed his predecessor Joe Biden’s decision to remove Cuba from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that the newly-inaugurated Trump’s order was undoubtedly “aimed at further tightening financial and economic restrictions in the hopes of destabilising the situation and changing power in Cuba.”
The move is unjustified because Cuba is an active participant in “international cooperation on counterterrorism,” Zakharova said.
The US must realize such measures “have an extremely negative influence on the quality of life of the island’s population,” she added, suggesting it was aiming to provoke “social discontent.”
Russia will continue to provide “necessary support to Cuba” to back its demands for an “immediate and complete end” to the “illegal and inhumane” US blockade of the island, Zakharova said.
Russia and Cuba have strengthened ties since Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visiting last year.
Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland
- “Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security,” Trump said
- Lokke said he was “satisfied” that Trump had not cited Greenland as a priority in his speech
COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s foreign minister said Tuesday that no country should be able to simply help themselves to another country, following US President Donald Trump’s renewed remarks about taking control of Greenland.
Trump, who took office on Monday, set off alarm bells in early January by refusing to rule out military intervention to bring the Panama Canal and Greenland — which is an autonomous Danish territory — under US control.
“Of course we can’t have a world order where countries, if they’re big enough, no matter what they’re called, can just help themselves to what they want,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters Tuesday.
While he didn’t mention Greenland in his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump was asked about it by reporters in the Oval Office afterwards.
“Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security,” Trump responded.
“I’m sure that Denmark will come along — it’s costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it,” he added.
Lokke said he was “satisfied” that Trump had not cited Greenland as a priority in his speech, but added that the “rhetoric” was the same.
“It doesn’t make me call off any crisis, because he said other things about expanding the American territory,” Lokke told Danish media.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede has insisted “that Greenland is not for sale” but that the territory was open to doing business with the US.
Among Danes, the omission of Greenland in the inauguration speech led to some relief.
“He didn’t mention Greenland or Denmark in his speech last night, so I think there’s room for diplomacy,” 68-year-old actor Donald Andersen told AFP.
On Monday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a post to Instagram that Europe would need to “navigate a new reality.”
While noting the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination, the head of government also stressed the need for Denmark to maintain its alliance with the US — which she described as Denmark’s most important since World War II.
A number of Danish party leaders were called to the prime minister’s office on Tuesday to be briefed on the situation.
“We have to recognize that the next four years will be difficult years,” Pia Olsen Dyhr, leader of the Green Left, told reporters after meeting with Frederiksen.
Zelensky says Ukraine working to set up Trump meeting
- “The teams have been working on a meeting, they are currently in the process,” Zelensky said
- Trump has said he will stop the war in Ukraine swiftly without saying how
DAVOS: Ukraine is working to set up a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump, Zelensky said on Tuesday.
“The teams have been working on a meeting, they are currently in the process,” Zelensky said of efforts to arrange a meeting with Trump.
He was speaking in an interview panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Trump, who took office on Monday, has said he will stop the war in Ukraine swiftly without saying how.
Zelensky said Ukraine would not agree to Russian demands that it drastically reduce the size of its military, predicting that Russian President Vladimir Putin would demand Ukraine cut its military to a fifth its size.
“This is what he wants. We will not allow this to happen,” Zelensky said.
In his speech, Zelensky suggested Europe had less influence over Washington because the United States viewed its allies’ contribution to security as lacking.
“Does anyone in the United States worry that Europe might abandon them someday – might stop being their ally? The answer is no,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky urges ‘united’ European defense policy at Davos
- Zelensky said Europe needed to be ready to stand on its own feet and must work to remain relevant as a “strong global” player
- “Europe must be able to guarantee peace and security for itself“
DAVOS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Europe should develop a joint defense policy and be willing to increase spending to guarantee its own security from emerging threats.
His comments to the World Economic Forum in Davos came a day after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who has demanded NATO members raise their defense spending and boasted he can end the war in Ukraine, without offering a clear roadmap.
Zelensky said Europe needed to be ready to stand on its own feet and must work to remain relevant as a “strong global” player and “indispensable” on the global stage.
“We need a united European security and defense policy, and all European countries must be willing to spend as much on security as is truly needed,” Zelensky argued in his address to the WEF.
“Europe must be able to guarantee peace and security for itself,” he added.
He evoked the Kremlin’s deployment of North Korean troops to western Russia to illustrate what he said were growing threats to European security.
“European leaders should remember this — battles involving North Korean soldiers are now happening in places geographically closer to Davos than to Pyongyang,” he said.
And he pointed to a recent pact between Russia and Iran boosting their economic and military cooperation, saying the accord was an example of a changing landscape that was a threat to Europe.
“Whom do they make such deals against? Against you, against all of us,” he said. “Such threats can only be countered together,” he added.
Zelensky also questioned whether Trump was committed to NATO and European security, claiming that Washington has openly indicated their security priorities lie in the Middle East and in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Will President Trump even notice Europe? Does he see NATO as necessary? And will he respect EU institutions?” Zelensky asked.
