That figure was Gabbar Singh Negi - who was born 260 km away, in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal district - and had the unfortunate distinction of having been in tunnel collapses thrice before.
Rescue teams racing to save 41 men trapped in an Uttarakhand tunnel have cleared the final few metres of debris - thanks to the banned manual "rat-hole"-mining technique being employed after high-tech machines failed.
Uttarakhand Government Secretary Dr Neeraj Khairwal said that after the blade and shaft of the auger machine stuck in the rescue pipes was removed, ‘rat-hole mining’ was started on Monday evening.
Addressing a press conference in Uttarkashi, NHIDCL MD Ahmad said, "We have completed around 19.2 meters of drilling. We have to drill around 86 meters to be done within four days that is by November 30. Hopefully, there will be no further hurdles and the work will be completed on time."