Kalistani Major History

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Major setback for Northern Rail as Tunnel collapses outside of Funkadelphia
Maglev construction halted while Vrassa Northern figures out how to rescue trapped workers
Funkadelphia, Vrassa
April 23, 5344


Small earthquake in Northern Vrassa causes Tunnel collapse, killing at least 19 workers, with an additional 340 trapped in pocket

In Northern Vrassa, as Vrassa Northern Rail was nearing the final stretch of construction on the National Maglev Rail Line, a small earthquake caused a major tunnel to collapse. The collapse killed at least 19 workers immediately, while trapping another 340 in an air pocket. The collapsed tunnel is in a mile long section in one of the last ranges of uplands before breaking through to the Jah River Plain. All work on the rail line is halted as a rescue effort is mounted from the Funkadelphia side of the collapsed tunnel.

"The human toll in this tunnel collapse is unthinkable," said Vrassa Northern Rail spokeswoman Katie Del Rio. "19 lives lost is far too high a cost for a project like this, but we are trying to focus on rescuing the 340 workers who remain alive in the tunnel." Del Rio said that it is unlikely that the rubble will be able to be cleared in time to save the workers who are trapped. "We are dealing with more than a mile of debris here from the collapsed tunnel," said Del Rio. "We are unsure how stable the mountain is where the earthquake occurred, and the last thing we want to do is further weaken the structure of the mountain by blasting the rubble out of the way."

Instead, Del Rio said that the company is planning to drill an access port from the side of the mountain into the pocket where the trapped workers are. "They have plenty of air, we've been able to determine," said the Railway Spokeswoman. "What they lack is fresh water and food, which, of course, they wouldn't have brought with them- We anticipate that with severe rationing, the crew has about five to seven days of water in the tunnel, but very little food. By our calculation, between them and the surface of the mountain, there is only about 300 yards of stone. If we excavate 200 feet a day, which is a rate we were occasionally able to achieve, we can get to them in three days, but it is more likely to take us closer to five days to reach them. Once the workers are free, we will be able to determine the geological condition of the tunnel. But initial surveys suggest that the tunnel will not be usable in any sense, and we will have to reroute the maglev in this area."

When asked how much damage to the railway the collapse caused, the spokeswoman stated, "We have not done initial calculations yet. Right now we are focused on saving the lives of our workers. Once they are safe and back with their families, we will attempt to calculate the setback to the Maglev." Asked if the bodies of the 19 dead will be able to recover, Del Rio stated, "Probably not. They are buried under hundreds of tons of stone and dirt, and if this mountain is as unstable as we think, attempting to recover their bodies will simply put more people at risk."

The Governor of Vrassa was on hand, and issued an emergency declaration for the site of the collapsed tunnel, which will likely serve to shield Vrassa Northern Railway from liability by taking up any litigation on behalf of the Company. "It is in our District's interest to offer any and all assistance to Vrassa Northern Rail as they work to free these trapped workers," said Governor Michael Griffin of the Socialist Party. "We will continue to work with the company not only to assist the families of the deceased, but also to ensure that those who are trapped are brought back to full health and made whole after this tragedy. We are not assigning any blame for the collapse at this time, though we have word that Vrassa Northern Rail will cooperate in all investigations to discover if there is any negligence that was even partly responsible for this event, and due to the 60% stake that the District has in the railway, we will ultimately limit any exposure that private investors have here whatever the results of the investigation are." A determination of negligence on the part of the railway will not affect Vrassa's effort to compensate victims' families: the District said that they will negotiate compensation with the families who lost loved ones in the collapse that includes full payment of a pension and survivors benefits that the state already offers public sector workers.

The collapse is expected to delay further construction for at least a year.