Hyderabad: At least eight workers are feared trapped after a portion of an under-construction tunnel collapsed in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district on Saturday.
A group of workers had gone inside the tunnel, located behind the Srisailam dam, to repair a leak when the tunnel caved in at 12-13 km inside the tunnel.
Dozens of workers managed to escape, but eight of them are feared to have been trapped inside, reported NDTV. A rescue operation is underway to bring out the trapped workers.
The tunnel is located in Amrabad on the under-construction stretch of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) in Nagarkurnool.
“A portion of the SLBC tunnel behind the Srisailam dam near Domalapenta experienced a collapse on Saturday. In particular, at the 14th km point, the roof of the left-side tunnel collapsed for three meters. This happened when employees were performing their duties at the site,” said an official statement.
The tunnel had reopened just four days ago, the statement added.
No contact could be established with the trapped workers and the internal communication mechanism has also failed. The air chamber and conveyor belt both collapsed, according to district collector B Santosh.
Expressing shock over the mishap, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy mentioned in a post on social media that several people were injured, without sharing any figure.
On the instructions of the CM, Irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, advisor Adityanath Das and other irrigation officials have left for the accident site in a special helicopter.
