Indian rescuers to dig new shaft for 41 men trapped for 9 days

Indian rescuers were battling Monday to free 41 men trapped in a road tunnel for nine days, as they prepared to dig an entirely new shaft after previous efforts failed. 

Excavators have been removing 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 slowed by falling debris as well as repeated breakdowns of the crucial heavy drilling machines, with the air force having to twice airlift new kit.

Engineers had been trying to horizontally drive a steel pipe through the debris, just wide enough for the increasingly desperate men to squeeze through.

But drilling on that route was paused on Friday, after a cracking sound created a "panic situation", officials said.[AFP]