Image source, Reuters Image caption,

Officials say they are just a few metres away from the men trapped inside the tunnel

By Anant Zanane and Samira Hussain in Uttarkashi and Zoya Mateen in Delhi

BBC News

The operation to rescue 41 workers trapped inside a tunnel in India's Uttarakhand state has resumed after hitting a snag, officials say.

They hope to free the workers in the next 10-12 hours if things go to plan.

The workers have been inside the tunnel since 12 November after a part of it caved in due to a landslide.

On Wednesday, the operation to rescue them hit a snag after a drilling machine encountered a steel structure it could not cut through.

Gas-cutters were then used to slice through the obstacle, which delayed the work by around six hours. Rescuers had drilled through three-quarters of the debris trapping the workers in and hopes were high that the workers could be brought out by Thursday morning.

"If everything goes to plan, and there are no impediments, we should complete the rescue by tonight," Atul Karwal, director general of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), told BBC Hindi.

Mr Karwal added that the authorities were prepared to deal with any obstacles that might come in their way.