Rescue personnel maneuver a metal tube through an entrance of the under-construction road tunnel, days after it collapsed in the Uttarkashi district of India's Uttarakhand state on Nov 21, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

SILKYARA -- Rescuers have drilled about halfway through fallen debris to reach 41 workers trapped for ten days inside a collapsed tunnel in the Indian Himalayas, an official said on Wednesday.

The men have been stuck in the 4.5-km tunnel in Uttarakhand state since it caved in early on Nov 12 and are safe, authorities have said, with access to light, oxygen, food, water, and medicines.

First images emerged on Tuesday from within the tunnel, showing workers in white and yellow hardhats standing in the confined space and communicating with rescuers

Rescue workers have drilled through 32 meters of an estimated 60 meters that must be cleared in order to push through a pipe wide enough for the men to crawl out, said Deepak Patil, a retired army officer heading the rescue effort.

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First images emerged on Tuesday from within the tunnel, showing workers in white and yellow hardhats standing in the confined space and communicating with rescuers, after a medical endoscopy camera was pushed through a smaller pipeline.

READ MORE: Rescuers drill to send more food to 41 trapped in Indian tunnel

Authorities have not said what caused the tunnel collapse, but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes, and floods. Efforts to bring the men out have been slowed by snags in drilling in the mountainous terrain.