India tunnel workers could face PTSD after rescue from ordeal

28/11/2023 19:08

        The 41 Indian construction workers trapped in a collapsed highway tunnel for 17 days will need long-term support after their rescue, including monitoring
        for post-traumatic stress disorder, officials said on Tuesday.
        
        Rescuers drilled through rocks and debris to finally reach the men on Tuesday in the Himalayan tunnel where they have been trapped since it collapsed on Nov. 12. They were due to be pulled out, one by one, later in the day.
        
        The men have been getting food, water, light, oxygen and medicine through a narrow pipe but efforts to dig a tunnel to rescue them with high-powered drilling machines were frustrated by endless snags and equipment breakdowns.
        
        Ambulances were waiting at the mouth of the tunnel on Tuesday afternoon to take the men to hospital and R.C.S. Panwar, the top medical officer in Uttarkashi district where the tunnel is located, said they would all be given a thorough checkup and follow-up monitoring by specialists.