3 Still Trapped In Uttarakhand Tunnel, Rescuers Battle Rain, Tough Conditions

Rescuers are working hard to find three missing people inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand's Chamoli where a sudden ingress of water last evening led to a crisis situation. The efforts to find them face a huge challenge due to continuous rainfall in the area, officials said, adding the water level inside the tunnel has been rising too.

Garhwal Range Inspector General of Police Rajiv Swaroop confirmed that they are facing difficulties in the rescue operation due to continuous rain, but are confident that the operation will be successful.

"The area where the debris has accumulated is flooded, and it is being rapidly removed with the help of machines. The continuous rain is posing some challenges to the operation... We have marked a specific area for the operation, where every square metre is being carefully inspected," he said.

A total of 22 people were working at the project site of Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd (THDC) in Chamoli's Pipalkoti when a large volume of water suddenly rushed inside, sweeping away many of them.

Rescuers managed to bring out 19 of them yesterday, but seven died during treatment, district magistrate Gaurav Kumar said. The rest of the injured workers have been hospitalised, he said.

The rescuers are from several agencies including the State and its larger counterpart, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

"At the time of the incident which occurred yesterday, 22 people were working here. At about 1.8 km inside the tunnel, water and debris came rushing in and trapped them. Six people were sent to rescue them and they came back safely after some time," Kumar told news agency ANI.

"Of the 22 people stranded, a total of 19 were rescued yesterday. Three are still missing, and dewatering is being done for them. Of all the 19 rescued yesterday, seven died in the hospital and 12 sustained minor injuries. One is critical and he has been referred to Higher Centre Srinagar. The remaining 11 are being treated in the district hospital," he said.

#WATCH | DM Chamoli Gaurav Kumar says, "At the time of the incident which occurred yesterday, 22 people were working here. At about 1.8 km inside the tunnel, water and debris came rushing in and trapped them. 6 people were sent to rescue them and they came back safely after some… https://t.co/nR0GxAIOJT pic.twitter.com/k9uxs3XUak

— ANI (@ANI) August 14, 2026

It had been raining heavily in the district for the last few days. On Monday, strong currents due to rising water level in a river had swept away a bridge in the district's Niti Valley region.

In a video of the incident, a massive volume of water mixed with mud rushed downstream and slammed into the metal bridge. Within seconds, the sheer force of the water uprooted the bridge and pushed it towards the riverbank.