'Like brothers': Rescued Indian tunnel workers stayed hopeful through ordeal

Forty-one men trapped for 17 days were taken to a specialist hospital in Rishikesh city in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, centre, and Union Minister VK Singh, right, give a garland to a rescued worker who had been trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarkashi, India. AFP

A construction worker is greeted by Mr Singh and Mr Singh Dhami following his rescue. AFP

Mr Singh Dhami embraces a construction worker following his rescue. AFP

The workers were trapped after a section of the tunnel collapsed in India's Uttarakhand state. AFP

An ambulance carries survivors to hospital as rescuers work to bring out the trapped men. Reuters

Ambulances wait in line during rescue operations to save workers trapped in the collapsed tunnel. Reuters

Disaster Response personnel wait to enter the tunnel in Uttarkashi where 41 workers were trapped. Reuters

Paramedics on standby near the road tunnel on the Brahmakhal-Yamunotri national highway. AFP

Rescue personnel enter the tunnel, which collapsed during construction work on November 12. AFP

Security staff wait as the rescue operation enters its final phase. AFP

A labourer trapped inside the tunnel. Reuters

A rescuer using a drill to burrow through the rock and debris trapping the workers. AFP

A father of one of the trapped construction workers with a picture of his son. AFP

Construction workers protest at the authorities' delayed response to rescue their colleagues trapped in the tunnel. EPA

A digger works on the mountainside where the road tunnel collapsed. AP

Observers watch rescue work at the site. AP

Colleagues of the trapped workers wait for news. EPA

A drilling machine arriving at the site of the tunnel collapse. EPA

Workers protest against the slow pace of the rescue after the tunnel collapse. AFP

People watch rescue and relief operations at the site of the tunnel collapse. AP

Families and colleagues of the trapped workers have waited at the site for weeks. AP

An excavator entering the tunnel following the collapse. EPA

Indian police at the site of the tunnel collapse. EPA

Rescuers with a drilling tool inside the collapsed road tunnel. AP

More than 100 rescue workers have been at the scene. AFP

The hope that they would be rescued soon helped many of the workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in India survive their ordeal, some of the men said on Wednesday, hours after they were rescued after 17 days of confinement.

All 41 men, low-wage workers from some of India's poorest states, were rescued, and were taken to a hospital in Rishikesh city in India’s northern state of Uttarakhand, after spending the night at a makeshift medical facility in a small Himalayan town.

Worker Subodh Kumar Verma said that knowing that a major rescue operation was under way gave him solace and hope.

"I am fine now. It is because of your prayers, and the hard work of the government that I was able to come out."

Doctors said all the men were doing well, but would need long-term support, including monitoring for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The men had lights in their confined area and service pipes were used to provide oxygen, water, food, medicines and also allow them to speak to their families.

Many workers said knowing they had not been forgotten, and would be soon pulled out, was what really kept them strong.

"For the first day or so, everyone inside was very hopeless and sad," worker Birendra Kishku, 39, told Reuters.

"We didn't know if anyone outside knew we were trapped.

"But when they reached us through the pipe, we got to know what the government was doing to bring us out," he said. "Me, my family and our entire village is very happy now."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the trapped men by phone late on Tuesday and a video of the conversation showed the men sharing their experience with him.

"We lived like brothers," Saba Ahmed, a worker for the private company contracted to build the tunnel, told Mr Modi.

"I would tell the workers that we are eating, drinking but have no work so let us do some yoga, go for morning walks to stay fit," he said.

The tunnel is part of the $1.5 billion Char Dham motorway, one of Mr Modi's most ambitious projects aimed at connecting four Hindu pilgrimage sites through an 890km network of roads.

Authorities have not said what caused the cave-in but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.

"When I first talked to him when he was inside I cried," Sukanti Nayak, the mother of worker Raju told Reuters. "My son was consoling me, telling me not to worry and assuring me that they would soon come out.

"We are eagerly waiting for him to return home."