Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Friday praised rescuers for rescuing all 12 Vietnamese workers who were trapped for 82 hours inside the collapsed section of an under-construction tunnel at a hydropower plant in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

>> 12 Vietnamese workers trapped in collapsed tunnel get out safely

The premier wrote a letter of appreciation to the rescuers when he arrived in Bangkok, Thailand, in the evening to attend the 5th Greater Mekong Subregion Summit. After putting in great effort for nearly four days, 750 Vietnamese rescuers including troops, sappers, and miners freed 12 workers, including a woman, at 4:35 pm yesterday. They had been isolated after a 20-meter long section of the under-construction tunnel of the $22 million Da Dang Dachomo hydropower plant in Lac Duong District collapsed at 7:15 am on Tuesday. The tunnel is designed to be 700 meters long, 600 meters of which had been completed before the collapse occurred about 500 meters from the opening of the structure. The rescue effort was hindered by bad weather and the complicated geology of the site, amid fears the workers might not survive after battles to provide them with oxygen and drain water rising in the collapsed tunnel section.

Rescuers managed to drill holes to put pipes through them so that food, milk, and water could be pumped to the workers.

A doctor examines Hoang Anh Van, one of the 12 workers rescued on December 19, 2014. Photo: Tuoi Tre

They also succeeded in digging two underground passageways from both sides of the collapsed tunnel to gain access to the workers. During the digging, sappers had to use explosives to destroy large pieces of rock that blocked the way leading to the group. Finally, the passageway on the left side reached the area where the workers had been trapped, opening a way to get them out. Three of the 12 workers were carried out on stretchers while the others came out by themselves. All the workers were hospitalized after being given initial care on the scene. Nguyen Xuan Tien, the Party Committee Secretary of Lam Dong Province, told reporters that there was no better happiness than seeing all 12 rescued safely.

It is now still not clear what caused the tunnel to collapse and nobody has been held accountable so far.

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