Hyderabad: After nearly a week of tireless rescue operation, the bodies of four out of the eight workers who were trapped after a portion of the SLBC tunnel collapsed have been located, on Saturday, March 1.
Addressing the media, state tourism minister Jupally Krishna Rao disclosed the four bodies were located inside the slush inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) in Domalapenta of Nagarkurnool district. They would be recovered by Sunday evening, he added.
Rao also said the location of the bodies has been found using the ground-penetrating radar equipment, and the slush was being removed manually to recover the bodies.
Rao said the remaining four bodies of the workers appeared to be at the frontage of the tunnel boring machine, where slush was filled in a distance of 24 ft. He said it could take an additional day to recover those bodies.
Rao, along with irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, Achampet MLA Ch Vamshi Krishna and chief secretary A Santhi Kumari held a review of the rescue efforts near the SLBC tunnel on Saturday.
Addressing media persons, Rao said that the rescue efforts inside the tunnel were challenging due to the water and slush. He informed that the 450-ft long boring machine was being cut into pieces to enable the identification and recovery of the bodies.
He said experts from 11 agencies including the army, NDRF, SDRF, GSI, SCCL, fire services, police, irrigation department, NGRI, HYDRAA, SCR plasma cutters, Rat Miners, L&T, Navayuga, JP, were all engaged in the rescue efforts, and that there was no negligence being shown.
Eight persons–engineers and labourers have been trapped under the collapsed roof of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel since February 22, and the rescue operations are on in full swing to pull them out to safety. The two engineers and four labourers are employed by Jaiprakash Associates, the contracting firm of the SLBC tunnel project.
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