Telangana tunnel collapse: 1 body partially dug out as cadaver dogs trace location

The body of one of the eight BRO workers who were buried in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel collapse in Telangana’s Nagarkunool was reportedly located on Sunday (March 9), thanks to the cadaver dogs of Kerala Police brought in for the search.

According to officials engaged in the search operation, the body was found trapped in the tunnel boring machine (TBM) inside the collapsed section of the tunnel, reported news agency ANI.

“We found one dead body stuck in the machine, with only a hand visible. The rescue teams are currently cutting the machine to retrieve the stuck body,” the unidentified official told ANI.

Search teams dig beyond 5 feet

The Human Remains Detection Dogs (HRDDs) dogs were deployed inside the partially collapsed tunnel on Sunday to search for human presence as the operation entered its 16th day.

The dogs, specially trained to detect human remains, joined the rescue efforts on March 7, when they were first taken inside the tunnel. On that very day, they had identified two points where bodies may be trapped.

Accordingly, search teams started digging in those points beyond 5 feet underground, as it was suspected that bodies may be trapped in the second layer of the dismantled TBM, a senior official told news agency PTI on Saturday.

The Kerala police’s Belgian Malinois breed dogs are capable of detecting scent from a depth of up to 15 feet.

Also read: Telangana tunnel collapse: Cadaver dogs of Kerala Police locate 2 bodies

Robots to join search ops

The Telangana government has also decided to deploy robots for the search operation from March 11 to ensure the safety of rescue personnel, as the challenging conditions inside the tunnel, including water and slush, pose significant risks.

Telangana’s Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday directed officials to take immediate steps to deploy robots. Calling the incident a “national disaster”, he emphasised that the state government is utilizing the best global technology to overcome the challenges in the final stretch of the 14-km-long tunnel.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has submitted an initial report in which, among other things, it has cautioned that rescue operations should be carried out with extreme caution and care in the last 70 metres (at the accident site), an official told PTI.

Also read: Telangana tunnel collapse: 4 bodies located, 4 likely under TBM, says minister

Immensely challenging operation

Eight persons — including engineers and labourers — were trapped in the SLBC tunnel on February 22, and experts from the NDRF, Indian Army, Navy and other agencies made relentless efforts to pull them out to safety.

While none of them are likely to be found alive any longer, search operations have continued to retrieve their bodies from under the rubble.

As the fragments of the huge TBM got submerged under water, soil and stones inside the tunnel, they caused a hazard to the rescue team. The search operation has been going on amid challenging conditions, including muck and seepage of water.

(With agency inputs)