Indian officials have warned that the chances of survival for eight people believed to have been trapped in a collapsed tunnel for several days are remote, following a rush of silt and water that caused the ceiling to cave in over the weekend.
The group was working on the Srisailam Left Bank Canal tunnel project in the southern Indian state of Telangana, a long-term initiative to construct one of the world’s longest irrigation tunnels, which has faced numerous delays since construction commenced in 2005.
On Saturday morning, the workers were approximately nine miles inside the tunnel when the roof collapsed due to the influx of silt and water, according to local officials and news reports. Some workers managed to escape, but eight remained trapped behind a tunnel-boring machine that obstructed their exit.
“Water gushed in and the roof caved in,” stated Manoj Gaur, the chairman of Jaiprakash Associates, the Indian construction company co-managing the project. “The tunnel is a big tunnel with a diameter of more than 10 meters. Imagine most of that height being filled with water, stone and mud.”
Rescuers have been unable to establish communication with the trapped workers since the accident, leaving their conditions unclear as of Monday. Nine agencies, including the Indian Army and Marine Commandos, are collaborating on the rescue operations.
Among the rescuers are members of a team that previously conducted a rescue in 2023, saving 41 workers trapped for 17 days in a collapsed tunnel in Uttarakhand, a northern Indian state. Activists and environmentalists have long cautioned that the multibillion-dollar road-widening project could destabilize the mountainous region, ultimately leading to the landslide that caused this disaster.
Jupally Krishna Rao, a Telangana state minister overseeing the rescue efforts, remarked that the likelihood of finding the victims alive is diminishing. “I can’t predict the chances of survival, but the chances are not very good,” he informed local news outlets. “But even if there is the slightest chance, we will try to save them.”
By Monday morning, rescuers reportedly reached the tunnel boring machine that was blocking the area; however, their efforts faced significant challenges due to severe debris and silt buildup, with some areas reportedly measuring six to seven feet high.