India tunnel collapse: rescuers attempt vertical drilling after safer options hit trouble

Dozens of labourers have been trapped in the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in the mountainous state of Uttarakhand for more than two weeks

The fate of 41 Indian workers trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel hung in the balance on Monday as rescuers began a risky" attempt to drill vertically down to try to pull them out.

The labourers have been trapped in the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in the mountainous state of Uttarakhand for more than two weeks after a landslide caused the entrance of the tunnel to collapse and become blocked with a wall of concrete rubble, debris and metal.