Workers rescued from Uttarakhand tunnel land in Patna, welcomed by labour minister

Five workers from Bihar, who were rescued after being trapped in a collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand for 17 days, have returned to Patna.

Five workers from Bihar, who were rescued on Tuesday from a collapsed under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand where they were trapped for 17 days, on Friday landed at the airport in Patna, where they were received by state labour minister Surendra Ram.

One of the workers from Bihar rescued from the tunnel in Uttarakhand, Sabah Ahmad, with his family members after his arrival at the airport in Patna on Friday. (Santosh Kumar/HT)

The five workers — Sabah Ahmad, Sonu Shah, Birendra Kisku, Sushil Kumar Vishwakarma and Deepak Kumar Patel — arrived on a Delhi-Patna Indigo flight (6E 2103). The travel was arranged by the state labour department.

“Our chief minister Nitish Kumar and deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav are demanding a ‘well-deserved’ special status to Bihar so that people of the state do not need to go out to earn their bread and butter,” Ram said, adding that the department had arranged vehicles for all the rescued labourers to be taken to their respective homes in different districts.

“Spending 17 days in the dark tunnel was a horrific experience, which cant be summed up in words. We lived and died every moment, until we finally saw light of the day. I and my family members are grateful to all those who worked day and night to rescue us. I am thankful to the God, who has given us a second life,” said Kishku, who is from Banka.

Sabah Ahmad’s father Misbah Ahmad, who had come from Bhojpur to Patna to receive his son, was fighting tears as he first caught sight of his son at the airport. “I have got a new life,” he said.

He thanked the Uttarakhand government for rescuing his son and other workers. Sabah said people like him had to go to other states for jobs as there was little scope in Bihar. “Of the 41 labourers trapped inside the tunnel, there was none from Delhi, Uttarakhand and south. They were from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal,” he said.

The minister, who escorted all the workers out of the airport, said the state government would provide all the assistance to them for the courage they displayed in overcoming a virtual death. “They are real Shramvirs, who have devoted themselves in the national building. People from across the country and in Bihar were praying for their safe recovery,” said Ram.