Telangana tunnel collapse: Rescue teams at work in search of trapped workers

Rescue operation underway to save trapped engineers and workers after tunnel collapse at Srisailam Left Bank Canal project.

Rescuers have inched closer to the engineers and workers trapped inside a tunnel after a section of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal project collapsed 24 hours ago, with operations underway to extricate them, officials said on Sunday (February 23, 2025).

The teams in the accident site at Nagarkurnool district, about 150 km from here, called out the names of the trapped people, but there was no response, sources said.

The rescue personnel were able to reach up to the 13th km inside the tunnel, a short distance from where the mishap occurred around 8.30 am on Saturday.

According to official sources, state Ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy and J Krishna Rao have left for the site to oversee the rescue operations.

"Rescuers will have to clear the debris filled with iron, muck and cement blocks. The teams were able to reach up to the 13th km where the collapse occurred. They are assessing the situation at the place where the Tunnel Boring Machine was last placed on Saturday," sources told PTI.

"The (rescue) teams have reached almost up to the last point (till the machine). We are assessing the situation," a senior police official said on Sunday. Of the eight, six (two engineers and four labourers) belong to Jaiprakash Associates and two are employees of a US company.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called up Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to inquire about the incident and assured all possible assistance from the Centre for the ongoing rescue operation.