8 workers trapped as T'gana tunnel caves in

At least eight people were trapped inside an under-construction tunnel in the Nagarkurnool district of Telangana after a portion of its roof collapsed on Saturday, prompting authorities to launch urgent but cautious rescue efforts, people aware of the matter said.

- Srinivasa Rao Apparasu

According to officials, 51 workers were carrying out excavation work through a hill, about 120km from Hyderabad, when a part of the tunnel's roof caved in at around 8.30am. Most of the workers escaped but some, including two site engineers, were trapped behind a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) close to the 14-km mark in the tunnel, they added. Around 34km of the 44km proposed tunnel is already built, officials said.

"There were 51 workers inside the tunnel during the incident, and 43 of them have come out safely. The roof caved in to the extent of three metres at around the 14-km mark inside the tunnel," Nagarkurnool superintendent of police Vaibhav Gaikwad said.

The trapped men were identified as project engineer Manoj Kumar, field engineer Sri Niwas - both residents of Uttar Pradesh; workers Sandeep Sahu, Jagta Xess, Santosh Sahu, Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand; Sunny Singh, a worker from Jammu & Kashmir; and Punjabbased worker Gurpreet Singh. The authorities were yet to establish contact with the trapped men. The exact cause of the collapse was also not immediately known. Jaiprakash Associates Ltd and Robbins India Ltd were carrying out the construction work, officials said.