Telangana tunnel collapse: All eight bodies found; official announcement soon

The worst has happened, as feared.

All eight people trapped working on the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel project work have been confirmed dead six days after a portion of the tunnel came down crashing. Achhampet MLA Vamsi Krishna on Saturday (March 1) said eight bodies were found buried in the mud inside the tunnel. An official announcement is expected to come anytime soon.

Earlier, another official said five bodies were found.

''Five bodies have been found. Efforts to retrieve the bodies from the mud are underway,'' B Devasahayam, Additional Collector of Nagarkurnool, told The Federal Telangana.

A team of The Federal has been reporting from the accident site, offering in-depth coverage of the deadly accident.

According to a source at the spot, the bodies were discovered with the help of Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) deployed by the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI). ''The radar scanned the area of the tunnel. Identification of the bodies is possible only when they are retrieved from the tunnel,'' the source added.

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Of the eight, two are engineers, two are operators and the remaining four are labourers from Jharkhand. The two engineers and four labourers are employed by Jaiprakash Associates, the contracting firm for SLBC tunnel project. The incident took place in the underground power station of the Srisailam Left Bank Hydroelectric Project, which is part of the larger Srisailam Dam complex on the Krishna River.

Marathon rescue work

Multiple rescue teams, including Army, Navy, Rat Miners and NDRF teams, have been working relentlessly to save the eight people trapped for over six days. National and international agencies and experts in tunnels were also roped in. According to reports, some of the workers engaged in the tunnel work have started leaving the place out of fear.

At least 800 people are working on the Srisailam Left Bank Canal project, 300 of whom are locals, and the rest are from states like Jharkhand, Odisha, and UP.

According to sources, some of the workers engaged in tunnel work started leaving the place out of fear.

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