Mettle vs Metal: Rescuers put lives on the line in dramatic tunnel op

Someone in the crowd, waiting like the others around him for the 41 men trapped in the Silkyara tunnel to come out, said, “Bas, ho gaya. Ab bahar niklenge humare log .” A second person chimed in and said, “Very good, very good.” Soon, there was a wave of celebrations. Wednesday: 6 pm. The joy turned out to be premature. The men were still stuck inside. An hour later, at about 7 pm, personnel from the (NDRF) were told the drilling machine had hit metal. It couldn’t plough through it to reach the workers stranded barely meters away.