Miraculous Rat-Led Rescue: 41 Workers Freed from Indian Tunnel After 17 Days

After 17 days, 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel in India's Uttarakhand state were successfully rescued. In addition to high-tech tools, a team of rat miners, who practice an illegal craft, played a crucial role in the rescue operation. The workers were trapped in the under-construction Silkyara Bend-Barkot tunnel, part of a pilgrimage program, which collapsed due to unstable terrain and lack of emergency exits. Despite setbacks with machinery, the rat miners manually drilled through the debris, using a technique known as rat mining, and successfully retrieved all the workers. Rat mining, resembling rats burrowing holes, is a controversial method banned in 2014 due to safety concerns.