Telangana tunnel collapse: Another body extricated

NAGARKURNOOL: Body of one of the seven persons who remained trapped inside the partially collapsed SLBC project tunnel here for over a month was found on Tuesday, officials said.

This takes the total number of bodies retrieved so far to two.

Nagarkurnool district Collector Badavath Santhosh told reporters that the body was found Tuesday morning.

He said "tentatively" the body has been identified to be that of Manoj Kumar, a project engineer from Uttar Pradesh.

The body was shifted to a government hospital for post mortem and other procedures as per the norms.

The Collector said the family members of the deceased would be informed about the matter. The mortal remains would be sent to the native place of the deceased as per norms.

As per the instructions of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh would be handed over to the family members of the deceased, he said.

The Chief Minister has directed that the search operation should continue till all the persons who were trapped in the accident are located, he said.

He also said four excavators have been deployed inside the tunnel to expedite the search operation.

Meanwhile, a rescue official told mediapersons that the body was extricated after the search personnel experienced foul smell in the early hours of Tuesday after which it was taken out carefully.

The body was recovered from a location other than those suggested by the sniffer dogs deployed earlier in the search operation, he said.

A total of eight individuals—including engineers and labourers—were trapped in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project tunnel when a portion of it collapsed on February 22.

The trapped persons have been identified as Manoj Kumar (UP), Sri Niwas (UP), Sunny Singh (J&K), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand.

The body of Gurpreet Singh, a Tunnel Bornig Machine (TBM) operator, was recovered on March 9 and handed over to his family in Punjab.

As many as 700 personnel belonging to 25 state, central and private agencies are engaged in the operation to locate the seven persons who remained trapped, officials had said.

During an official meeting on Monday, officials told Chief Minister Revanth Reddy that the search operation has become more complex due to the location of the accident, which occurred 14 kms deep inside the tunnel, where ventilation and light are poor.

The officials also pointed out that 30 meters of the area at the accident site has been identified as particularly dangerous.