Giant Drill Damaged, Broken Parts Being Pulled Out Of Tunnel Manually

The Uttarakhand Chief Minister said a specialised machine has been ordered from Hyderabad to retrieve the auger machine from the tunnel.

Twelve hours after drilling stopped at the Uttarakhand tunnel where 41 workers are trapped, the damaged blades of the American-made auger machine are still being taken out manually. The machine was damaged after it hit a metal girder as drilling resumed last evening.

"The machine is totally busted and has failed us four times, so now no more auger," tunnel expert Arnold Dix told reporters from the site.

"Now we are working to clear the debris manually since that's the safest bet," a senior officer in charge of operations told NDTV.