7 Killed, 2 Trapped As Water, Debris Enter Tunnel In Uttarakhand's Chamoli

Seven people were killed after water and debris entered a tunnel in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Thursday, officials said. Two workers are still trapped and rescuers are trying to reach them, the State Disaster Management Authority said in a statement, adding a total of 22 people were working at the project site of Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Ltd (THDC) in Chamoli's Pipalkoti when a sudden flow of water rushed inside. The strong currents swept many of them towards the tunnel's exit, reports said.

The statement said 14 workers were injured.

"This is a deeply tragic incident... The entire administrative team and all my colleagues have arrived, and our priority is to provide continuous support to those engaged in the rescue operations," local MLA Lakhpat Butola said.

District magistrate Gaurav Kumar said that at 6.30 pm, a significant amount of debris and water surged into the tunnel where construction work has been going on.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ordered rescue and relief operations to be taken up on a war footing. Dhami said he is taking real-time updates from senior officers.

"I spoke to the injured workers admitted to hospital; their condition is stable. I have also informed the chief ministers of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh that their residents, those injured or involved in the incident, are receiving treatment here. I have also spoken to the chief medical superintendent," the chief minister said.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are going through the debris to search for the trapped workers.

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.