International tunnelling expert Arnold Dix, a Geneva-based Australian geologist who was part of the Silkyara tunnel rescue operation offered prayers at a makeshift temple of of local deity Baba Baukhnaag ji after the mission’s success.
Dix said that he had promised to say thank you at the temple when the operation was going on and fulfilled it after the miraculous evacuation of 41 construction workers.
“It has been my honour as a parent to help out all parents in getting their children back home. Remember, I said in the beginning that 41 people would go home unhurt by Christmas. Christmas is coming early,” Dix said.
The professor found a special mention in Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s X post after the rescue mission’s success.
“A wonderful achievement by Indian authorities. Proud that Australian Professor Arnold Dix played a role on the ground,” Albanese posted on X.
In response, he said, “Thank you, Mr Prime Minister. But as an Australian, sir, if you’re watching, it’s been my privilege and my pleasure to show that we’re fantastic at not just cricket, I love cricket, but we do other things as well, including tunnel rescue.”
BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya also posted the photo of Dix praying at the temple and wrote, “When science and technology meet faith. International tunnelling expert Arnold Dix joins a priest in praying for the safe evacuation of 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel, in Uttarakhand.”