Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: The story behind this heartwarming father-son kiss - BBC.com

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By Anant Zanane in Uttarakhand and Cherylann Mollan in MumbaiBBC News

Silkyara PRO

Chaudhary kissed his son, Manjit, as soon as he saw him

A picture of an Indian man being kissed by his father after he was rescued from a collapsed tunnel has won many hearts.

Manjit Chaudhary was among 41 workers trapped in the tunnel in the Himalayas after a landslide on 12 November.

Manjit's mother pawned her jewellery so her husband could afford the 600km (372-mile) trip from their village. Another of their sons had already died on a Mumbai building site.

When Manjit emerged to safety, his dad was waiting to welcome him with a hug.

As soon as he saw Manjit, he pulled him into an embrace and gave him a kiss. This touching moment was captured by photographers, and has since gone viral online.

Chaudhary, 50, who goes by only one name, told the BBC that seeing his son safe and sound was "nothing short of a miracle".

"My dreams have finally come true. God accepted my prayers and delivered my son to us safely," he said.

Manjit and his fellow workers became trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand state while they were constructing it. A thick pile of debris 60m long - full of rocks and metal objects - blocked their exit.

Rescue officials soon established contact with the men and began supplying them with food, oxygen and water so their basic needs were met, but the risks of getting them out alive still remained.

It took a little over two weeks to pull out the men from the tunnel. The rescue operation was a complicated one, and involved the use of excavators, drilling machines and numerous personnel. Eventually miners hacked their way through the last few metres of rubble by hand to reach the men.

When the men finally emerged on Tuesday evening, their friends, colleagues and family members were filled with joy.

Chaudhary, who had travelled from his village in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh state, was among those waiting at the tunnel mouth.

Rescued workers have first proper meal in 17 days

He said he blessed his son with a long life after Manjit touched his feet - a gesture of respect for family elders in India.

"I told him I don't want to see him enter another tunnel, but let's see, he may insist on going back," he said and added that if it wasn't his son, someone else's son would have to do this risky work.

Chaudhary had earlier told the BBC that he'd pawned his wife's jewellery to gather funds to travel to Uttarakhand.

His wife told BBC Hindi that she was devastated when she heard about the accident.

On Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights that was celebrated on 12 November this year, she said their house was in darkness as she was worried about Manjit.

"I'd already lost one son to a construction accident, I didn't want to lose another," she said, adding that the family would now celebrate Diwali since Manjit had been rescued safely.

She'd been able to talk to Manjit during his ordeal underground. Two-way radios were sent into the tunnel through pipes inserted through the debris - with the conversations relayed to those above ground and onwards to relatives via mobile phones.

"Manjit would start telling me about the tunnel and that would worry me, so he would change the topic to lighten the mood," his mother said.

Additional reporting by Prashant Pandey.

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