Rescuers attempt manual digging to free 41 Indian workers trapped for over 2 weeks in tunnel

NEW DELHI (AP) — Authorities in India say they’re set to begin manual digging of what they hope is the final phase of rescuing the 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel for over two weeks. Rescuers have started to drill vertically — an alternate plan to digging horizontally from the front — with a newly replaced drilling machine excavating about 105 feet. The workers have been trapped since Nov. 12 when a landslide in Uttarakhand state caused a portion of the 2.8-mile tunnel they were building to collapse about 650 feet from the entrance. The mountainous terrain has slowed the rescue operation. So far, rescuers have excavated and inserted pipes up to 150 feet to serve as a passageway for the workers’ extraction.