Chamoli tunnel toll rises to 9; search on for 1 missing worker
The body of one of the two workers missing since last week's tunnel accident in Chamoli (Uttarakhand) was found on Tuesday, raising the death toll to nine, officials said.
Chamoli District Disaster Management Officer NK Joshi said that the body was found during the ongoing search operation conducted by various agencies following the accident on the evening of August 13. He added that the body has been sent to the Gopeshwar District Hospital and efforts were on for its identification.
The death toll from the accident—caused by a landslide that filled the tunnel with debris and water—has now reached nine, while one worker still remains missing. Twelve other workers were injured in the accident.
Officials said that a rescue and relief operation is being conducted on a war footing to locate the missing worker. A joint team comprising the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), local police, and other agencies has been continuously conducting search and rescue operations since the accident occurred.
Officials said that the search operation is going on despite the presence of significant sludge inside the tunnel, and all teams are coordinating to carry out the mission amid adverse conditions. The task has been complicated by the sludge that is still blocking the way, they added.
They added that the accumulated debris and sludge are being removed, and water is being pumped out rapidly using available resources—including suction pumps and other equipment—to facilitate the search for the missing worker.
Chamoli District Information Officer Dheeraj Karki told PTI that three of the five JCB machines trapped inside the three-kilometre-long tunnel during the accident have been retrieved so far, which has accelerated the search for the missing workers. He said that the remaining two machines, currently trapped in the debris, would also be extracted soon.
