“This is a tunnel under construction for a hydropower project. Around 6.30 pm, a significant amount of debris and water surged into the tunnel,” district magistrate Gaurav Kumar said
At least seven people were killed and many other injured after water and debris entered a tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Thursday, officials said. Three workers are said to be still trapped, and rescuers are trying to reach them, the State Disaster Management Authority said in a statement, adding that 18 workers have so far been rescued.
At least 28 people were working at the project site of Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd (THDC) in Chamoli’s Pipalkoti when a sudden flow of water rushed inside. The strong currents swept many of them towards the tunnel’s exit, reports said.
“This is a deeply tragic incident… The entire administrative team and all my colleagues have arrived, and our priority is to provide continuous support to those engaged in the rescue operations,” local MLA Lakhpat Butola said.
District magistrate Gaurav Kumar said that at 6.30 pm, a significant amount of debris and water surged into the tunnel where construction work has been going on.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered rescue and relief operations to be taken up on a war footing. Dhami said he is taking real-time updates from senior officers.
“I spoke to the injured workers admitted to hospital; their condition is stable. I have also informed the chief ministers of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh that their residents, those injured or involved in the incident, are receiving treatment here. I have also spoken to the chief medical superintendent,” the chief minister said.
Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are going through the debris to search for the trapped workers.