Debris and water entered an under-construction tunnel at the THDC project in Mayapur (Pipalkoti) in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Thursday evening, trapping several workers inside.
Rescue teams have so far evacuated 16 people safely, while efforts are underway to rescue the remaining workers.
According to officials, the incident occurred at around 7.05 pm at the tunnel being constructed by HCC. Preliminary information suggests that 18 to 19 workers were inside the tunnel when debris and water entered it.
A search and rescue operation was launched immediately after the incident.
A search and rescue operation was launched immediately after the incident. Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar said that 16 workers had been rescued safely so far, while efforts were continuing to evacuate the remaining people trapped inside the tunnel.
"This is a tunnel under construction for a hydropower project belonging to THDC. Around 6:30 or 6:45 PM, a large volume of debris and water surged into the tunnel. Workers from the shift on duty got trapped inside. NDRF and SDRF teams, along with all our machinery, are currently engaged in operations for the remaining individuals, and we are hopeful that we will be able to rescue everyone within the next few hours," said Kumar.
Rescue operations are currently being carried out by personnel from the District Incident Response Force (DIRF), local police and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
Following the incident, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed concern and directed authorities to carry out rescue operations on a war footing.
In a statement, the Chief Minister said teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) had been rushed to the site in view of the seriousness of the incident.
He also instructed the district administration and all concerned departments to work in coordination to ensure a swift rescue operation.
Dhami said he was personally monitoring the situation and remained in constant touch with senior officials, receiving regular updates on the rescue efforts.
"The government's top priority is to ensure the safe evacuation of every person trapped inside the tunnel. All necessary resources have been deployed for the rescue operation," the Chief Minister said.
He also directed officials to ensure there was no delay or lapse in the ongoing rescue work and asked the administration to extend all possible assistance to the affected workers and their families.
Rescue operations were continuing at the time of filing this report, with emergency response teams working to clear debris and safely evacuate the remaining workers trapped inside the tunnel.
Authorities are yet to ascertain the cause of the collapse.
