An emergency operation is underway to rescue at least eight workers who were trapped in an under-construction tunnel after its roof collapsed on Saturday in the southern Indian state of Telangana.
The incident occurred at a stretch of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal, an irrigation project in Nagarkurnool district about 200km from the capital Hyderabad.
A state minister overseeing the rescue mission warned that the chances of survival of the workers were "very, very remote" as the rescue operation was hindered by muck and water. "Muck has piled up too high inside the tunnel which has made it impossible to walk. The rescuers are using rubber tubes and wooden planks to navigate. The chances of survival are very, very remote, but we are hopeful and not sparing any effort,” Krishna Rao said.
He said four of the trapped men were labourers and the rest workers of the construction company.
While dozens of workers managed to escape as the tunnel started to collapse, eight people were reportedly trapped. State chief minister A Revanth Reddy directed government officials and police in Nagarkurnool to reach the site to carry out relief measures, a statement from his office said.
His office said in a statement that the chief minister was “constantly reviewing the situation”.
“The chief minister has alerted the officials to continue all efforts to save the workers and not leave any opportunity. Officials explained to the chief minister that the water entering the tunnel has become a hindrance to rescue operations and that arrangements have been made to continuously drain the water and provide oxygen to the tunnel.”
Social media videos on Sunday showed rescuers calling out the names of some of the trapped workers as they tried to enter the blocked tunnel. An official of the National Disaster Response Force said a rescue team went inside the tunnel at 10pm on Saturday, covering 11 km on a locomotive and the remaining 2km on a conveyor belt.
"When we reached the end of the tunnel boring machine, we called out their names, but did not get an answer," an NDRF deputy commander was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
"There is a 200-metre patch filled with debris. Until this debris is cleaned, we will not be able to find out the exact location of the trapped workers and rescue them. Water is filled in the patch between 11-13km of the tunnel, and until water is removed, debris cleaning work will not start.”
#WATCH | Nagarkurnool, Telangana: Rescue operations being carried out inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel as a portion of the tunnel near Domalpenta collapsed yesterday. At least eight workers are feared trapped.
— ANI (@ANI) February 23, 2025
(Source: Irrigation and Civil Supply Minister Uttam… pic.twitter.com/XzAvagy5zA
A statement by the state government said: "In particular, at the 14km point, the roof of the left-side tunnel collapsed for 3m. This happened when employees were performing their duties at the site. On the orders of the chief minister, irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, irrigation advisor Adityanath Das and irrigation officials left for the accident site in a special helicopter.”
The opposition Bharat Rashtra Samiti party criticised the government and said it should take full responsibility for the incident. Party leader KT Rama Rao said on X: “Such incidents are happening due to the collusion with contractors, the evasion of supervision in the hunt for commissions, and the complete compromise on quality standards.”
Senior government official B Santosh said earlier that there had been no contact with those trapped, the internal communication mechanism had failed, and the air chamber and conveyor belt had both collapsed, NDTV reported.
In 2023, 41 workers were rescued from a collapsed under-construction tunnel in India's Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. The rescue mission was expected to last only a few days, but it took 17 days to reach the workers. It was one of the most complicated rescue operations in India's recent history, aided by international tunnelling experts and spearheaded by multiple rescue agencies.
