Rescuers prepare for another attempt to free workers from behind 200 meters of rubble (Photo: Reuters)

Friends and relatives have gathered outside a collapsed Indian road tunnel as about 40 workers are stranded for a fourth day.

The tunnel on the Yamunotri National Highway in Uttarakhand state collapsed early Sunday morning while dozens of people were still working on it.

They are now falling ill and local judge Abhishek Ruhela said workers had sent messages saying some were suffering from body aches, fever and nerves.

Two of the trapped people were also reportedly injured by falling debris.

About 200 people from state and national disaster management forces are involved in the rescue efforts, while the state government of Uttarakhand is also providing assistance.

Rescuers said several supplies – including food, water, medicine and oxygen tanks – had been passed to the workers.

But local relatives are becoming increasingly impatient and frustrated with the progress of the work, which involves drilling wide pipes through the rubble to create a passage.

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According to government official Gaurav Singh, drilling was hampered by loose debris and a technical fault in the drilling machine.

A new machine has now been installed at the location.

Ranjit Sinha, a disaster management official, said: “These are challenges in such rescue operations but we will overcome them.”

In this November 12, 2023 photo, rescue workers gather at the site of the tunnel collapse in the Uttarkashi district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. Rescuers in northern India said on November 13 that they had contacted 40 workers trapped for more than 24 hours after the road tunnel they were building collapsed. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

The workers have now been stuck in the tunnel for three full days (Photo: AFP)

epa10974531 National Disaster Response Force team members outside the under-construction tunnel on the Brahmakhal Yamunotri National Highway in Uttarkashi, India, November 14, 2023. Rescue and relief efforts were underway after 40 workers were trapped following the tunnel collapse two days earlier . According to Disaster Management Minister Ranjit Kumar Sinha, food and oxygen were delivered through pipes running through the rubble. The pipes would then be used to rescue the trapped workers over the next 12 hours, authorities said. EPA/ABHYUDAYA KONTALA

Rescue teams will use hydraulic cylinders to push 70cm wide steel pipes through an opening of excavated rubble (Photo: EPA)

The Indian newspaper The Statesman reported that another smaller collapse occurred on Tuesday evening.

About 200 meters of the 7.5-kilometre-long tunnel collapsed on Sunday during work to connect the Hindu pilgrimage sites of Silkyara and Dandalgaon.

Photos from the scene show a huge amount of rubble blocking the tunnel, with twisted metal cables protruding from the top.

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