Telangana mishap: No light at the end of the tunnel as huge pile of debris, muck affect rescue operations
Nagarkurnool, Feb 23: Despite relentless efforts by the Indian Army, NDRF and other agencies, no breakthrough was achieved on Sunday in the rescue operations to extricate eight persons who have remained trapped for over 30 hours inside a tunnel after a section of it collapsed in the SLBC project, with prayers on for their well-being.
Telangana Minister J Krishna Rao told reporters that the chances of survival under the circumstances are “not that good.” “Muck has piled up too high inside the tunnel, making it impossible to walk through. They (rescuers) are using rubber tubes and wooden planks to navigate through it,” Krishna Rao, who went inside the tunnel, told reporters.
“We can’t say. We are hopeful, but the kind of incident that took place was very serious and chances are we can not say. The chances of survival we can not predict. Chancer are not that good,” he said when asked about the chances of survival of the trapped persons.
Krishna Rao said some survivors swam across the tunnel after the incident happened.
Videos released by the state government showed rescuers navigating through thick muck, tangled iron rods, and cement blocks.
Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said there were about 70 people working in the tunnel on Saturday morning when a part of it collapsed. Most of them could escape and return using their internal train or locomotive there after the incident.
“But eight people have been missing since yesterday. We are hoping and praying that they are safe…” Reddy said. The final 200 meters stretch of the collapsed section of the tunnel has been filled with water and silt, the Minister said, indicating the difficulty that the rescue teams are faced with to reach the spot. (PTI)