The operation to rescue labourers stuck in the partially-collapsed Silkyara tunnel is on hold since Friday when a US-made auger machine deployed to drill and push in pipes through the rubble to prepare an escape passage for the trapped workers developed a snag. Another high-performance drilling machine airlifted from Indore in Madhya Pradesh arrived in Silkyara on Saturday where its three parts will be assembled before it is deployed for drilling, officials on the spot said.

Meanwhile, the number of workers who have been trapped inside the tunnel since last Sunday has been revised to 41. The NHIDCL, which is constructing the tunnel through Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd, came to know about this discrepancy on Friday. According to an earlier list issued by the NHIDCL, 40 workers were trapped inside the tunnel after a part of it collapsed at around 5.30 am on November 12.