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Rescuers on Tuesday successfully drilled through to 41 men trapped inside a collapsed Himalayan tunnel, as a weekslong evacuation effort fraught with uncertainty enters its final stretch.

The men have been trapped since November 12 when the part of tunnel they were helping to construct in India’s northern Uttarakhand state gave way, blocking their only exit with more than 60 meters (200 feet) of broken rock, concrete and twisted metal.

The breakthrough follows a series of agonizing setbacks, during which rescue efforts were halted when the heavy machinery used to drill through the debris broke down, forcing workers to partially dig by hand and adopt other riskier methods to bring them to safety.

Engineers had previously attempted to excavate the debris in the exit shaft using heavy machinery, but were forced to abandon efforts late on Friday after the powerful US-made drill they were using broke down just meters from the trapped men.

The laborers – all migrant workers from some of India’s poorest states – have been receiving food, water and oxygen through a 53-meter (173 foot) pipe that has been inserted through the debris and authorities say they remain in good health.

The tunnel is part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Char Dham Highway route, a controversial multimillion dollar project to upgrade.

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