National Disaster Management Authority Member, Lt General (Rtd) Syed Ata Hasnain on Tuesday said that the rescue workers, who have been tirelessly working day and night to rescue the 41 trapped workers for the last 17 days, were near a breakthrough, “but not quite there”.
Addressing a press briefing in New Delhi, NDMA Member Syed Ata Hasnain said, rat-hole mining experts, who were pressed into manually drilling through the last stretch, had reached the 58-metre point, and there were about two more metres to go.
“We are near a breakthrough but not yet there. Manual work has carried on and we have reached 58 metres. The debris had been cut and the work was going on the entire night. Our rat miners, experts and Army engineers have been able to take it to 58 metres and the pipe has been pushed with the help of the auger machine,” NDMA Member said.
