After More Than 2 Weeks, Rescue Arrives for Workers Trapped in Indian Tunnel

After a 17-day effort to free dozens of Indian construction workers trapped inside a Himalayan road tunnel, rescuers finally cleared a path through debris on Tuesday and pulled the men out, ending an excruciating wait for the workers and their families.

The rescue operation had hit repeated roadblocks, with officials trying multiple ways to reach the 41 stranded men in the northern state of Uttarakhand, including the deployment of miners using hand tools after a drilling machine had failed.

Pushkar Singh Dhami, the state’s chief minister, said the rescued workers were sent for health checks before they reunite with their families. The first rescues came close to 8 p.m. local time. While officials had said the process to get them all out could take about three hours from the first rescue, all the men were removed to safety in under an hour.

“The workers had decided among themselves that the youngest would exit first, and that the team leaders would leave last,” Mr. Dhami, the state’s chief minister, said at a news conference after all the men were rescued.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who officials said had been closely monitoring the efforts, thanked the rescue teams for giving the trapped workers “a new life.”

“The patience and courage that all these families have shown in this challenging time cannot be appreciated enough,” Mr. Modi said.