At least 10 workers are trapped after water and debris suddenly flowed into a tunnel in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district this evening. Rescue teams are working to reach those trapped at the project site of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd (THDC) in Pipalkoti.
Eighteen people were working inside the tunnel when a sudden gush of water rushed in . The force of the current swept several workers towards the tunnel's exit, according to reports.
District magistrate Gaurav Kumar said that around 14-15 workers have been rescued so far. Ambulances and police teams have reached the site, Chamoli police chief Surjeet Singh Pawar said.
"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. Workers from the shift on duty at the time were trapped," NDTV quoted Kumar as saying. The official added that they hope to find the rest of the workers in the next few hours.
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Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has instructed the authorities to carry out rescue and relief operations on a war footing, adding that he is personally monitoring the situation and receiving real-time updates from senior officers.
In an effort to find the trapped workers, teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are currently searching through the rubble and debris.
Over the past few days, the district has seen a massive amount of rain. A bridge in the Niti Valley region of Chamoli was washed away on Monday after being pummelled by powerful currents brought on by rising river levels. In a matter of seconds, the sheer force of the water uprooted the bridge and drove it in the direction of the riverbed. The occurrence was captured on camera as a tremendous volume of mud-mixed water rushed downstream and slammed against the metal bridge.
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