The operation to rescue 41 workers trapped inside an Uttarakhand tunnel for the past 12 days is in its final phase. As of midnight, rescue teams had said that about 10 metres of debris separates them from the trapped workers. According to rescue teams, the operation involved drilling through the debris to push wide pipes for the trapped workers to walk out through. The auger machine, which drills through about 3 metres of debris in an hour, had earlier hit a metal obstruction. A metal cutter was then used to remove the block and the operation resumed.