Rescuers attempt manual digging to free 41 Indian workers trapped for over two weeks in tunnel

NEW DELHI (AP) — Authorities in India say they were set to begin manual digging of what they hoped was the final phase of rescuing the 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed mountain tunnel in the country’s north for over two weeks. This came a day after an attempt to drill vertically — an alternate plan to digging horizontally from the front — started, with the newly replaced drilling machine excavating about 20 meters (nearly 65 feet), according to officials on Monday. The workers have been trapped since Nov. 12 when a landslide in Uttarakhand state caused a portion of the 2.8-mile tunnel they were building to collapse about 650 feet from the entrance. The mountainous terrain has challenged the rescue operation.