Rescuers begin pulling out 41 workers more than two weeks after tunnel collapse in India

Rescuers on Tuesday began pulling 41 construction workers out of a collapsed tunnel in northern India more than two weeks after they were trapped. 

About a dozen men worked overnight with hand-held drilling tools to manually dig during the final part of the rescue operation after the drilling machine irreparably broke on Friday, The Associated Press reported, citing state government spokesperson Kirti Panwar.

The workers were trapped on Nov. 12 after a landslide caused a portion of the road tunnel they were building to collapse. The workers managed to survive through food and oxygen supplied through narrow pipes. 

Medical professionals will examine the workers in an initial health checkup at the site, officials said. 

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