HYDERABAD: After 16 days of rescue operations, one body has been recovered from the debris inside the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) Tunnel in Telangana's Nagarkunool, where a collapse on February 22 trapped eight workers.
According to rescue officials, the deceased, identified as Gurpreet Singh, an erector operator with Robbins India, was found trapped in a machine inside the collapsed section of the tunnel.
The body has been sent to the Nagarkurnool civil hospital for post mortem and to follow other procedures, a senior official told PTI.
The rescue team from Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) located the body.
Speaking to local reporters, SCCL General Manager Vaidya said that the body was found on Saturday, and excavation efforts were immediately initiated.
Vaidya explained that ground-penetrating radar (GPR) had identified two potential spots. The cadaver dogs, brought in from Kerala, confirmed the presence of human remains at these locations on Friday.
Officials began digging at one of the spots, expecting to recover the body on Saturday night. However, they encountered seven steel plates covering the body. Since the body was largely intact, the team took care not to damage it. "We spent two hours removing the steel plates before finally retrieving the body on Sunday evening," Vaidya said.
It was noted that the operator’s body was not found at his workstation; due to the water, it had been washed downstream.
On February 22, eight workers were trapped inside the SLBC tunnel and rescue operations have been ongoing for 16 days. The search for the remaining seven workers continues.