Uttarkashi rescue: First worker brought out from collapsed Silkyara tunnel

The first of the 41 workers trapped in Uttarakand's Silkyara tunnel was brought out Tuesday evening, ending an ordeal that stretched almost 17 days.

Around 8 pm, an ambulance with the worker sitting in the vehicle left the mouth of the tunnel and was headed to a community health centre.

An official said rescue workers had broken through the last stretch of the rubble at about 7 pm.

NDRF and SDRF men entered the steel chute to reach the trapped workers and were bringing them out on wheeled-stretchers one by one, said a rescuer.