Chamoli Tunnel Tragedy: 7 dead, 3 missing as rescue ops continue

Synopsis

Water and debris entered an under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district. Nineteen workers were rescued after the incident, which claimed seven lives. Search operations continue for three missing individuals trapped inside the tunnel. Twelve rescued workers sustained injuries and are receiving medical treatment. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is supervising the ongoing rescue operations at the site.

New Delhi: A day after water and debris entered the under-construction THDC tunnel in Mayapur (Peepalkoti) in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, 19 people were rescued out of around 22 people reported to be trapped inside the tunnel. While the incident claimed seven lives, search operations are currently underway to trace the three missing persons. 12 persons, who were rescued, have received injuries.

The incident occurred in the tunnel around 7 pm on Thursday when landslides and subsidence caused debris and water to fill half of the tunnel, trapping workers inside, according to a report of the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority.

10 injured persons have been admitted to the district hospital, Gopeshwar, while one injured person Rohit Pandey (Bihar) is undergoing treatment at Base hospital, Srinagar. Ten injured persons are Sunil (Chhattisgarh), Harbil Gudia (Tapra), Nistar Bhingra (Jharkhand), Vinod Rawana (Jharkhand), Dina Begara (Jharkhand), Khela Ram (Jharkhand), Subeg Singh (Punjab), Tilakraj (Himachal Pradesh), Chandan Kumar (Bihar), and Pen Singh (Chhattisgarh). Govindo Mandal of West Bengal was discharged after treatment.

Seven deceased persons have been identified as Pradeep Panwar (Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand), Mukesh Singh (Chamoli, Uttarakhand), Durlabh Sharma (Uttar Pradesh), Vijay Hansda (Uttar Pradesh), Jitendra Kumar (Uttar Pradesh), Lokeshwar (Chhattisgarh), and Bhuneshwar (Chhattisgarh).

The three persons, who are reported to be missing, are Lukas Topno (Jharkhand), Chetan Poyam (Chhattisgarh, and Devnath (Chhattisgarh).

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami landed in Chamoli on Friday to personally supervise the rescue operation. Rescue operations have been undertaken by NDRF, CISF and SDRF at the site of the incident. The base hospital (Srinagar) and AIIMS (Rishikesh) have been kept in alert mode for proper treatment of the injured persons.

The TRT tunnel of THDC's Vishnugad-Pipalkoti Hydro Electric Project is approximately 3 kilometre long.