Patna, Dec 1 (IANS): Five labourers of Bihar, who were recently rescued from the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, reached Patna airport on Friday.

They were welcomed by Bihar’s Labour Minister Surendra Ram at the airport at around 8 a.m. He expressed satisfaction over the safe rescue of the labourers.

“It is great happiness for us that they returned home safely. They are the Sharmvirs of Bihar who never accept defeat under any circumstances. They are associated with building the nation. We have received them and they will be sent to their respective houses on state government expenses,” Ram said.

Forty-one labourers were trapped in the Silkyara tunnel for 17 days and five of them hail from Bihar -- Sonu Kumar Shah of Saran, Sabah Ahmed of Bhojpur, Virendra Kishu of Banka, Dipak Kumar of Muzaffarpur and Sunil Kumar of Rohtas.

The labourers were rescued on November 28 and were airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh next day. After a complete medical check up, they were allowed to return to their respective homes.

“When we were trapped inside the tunnel, the first 24 hours were scary. After that we got normalised as the company officials communicated with us successfully and ensured our safe release. We were provided with every assistance, including food, medicines and other necessary things for survival,” said Dipak Kumar, one of the labourers and native of Muzaffarpur.