Telangana tunnel collapse: One body retrieved from under 10 ft of silt
Deceased identified as Gurpreet Singh of Punjab based on earring on left ear lobe and tattoo on the right hand; Singh was a TBM operator working for Robbins Co
Search teams working hard to locate the eight men trapped under the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool for over two weeks retrieved the body of one of them from under 10 ft of silt and several layers steel on Sunday (March 9).
The deceased has been identified as Gurpreet Singh of Punjab, who was working for Robbins Co involved in the tunnel works.
Singh was identified based on the earring on the left ear lobe and tattoo on the right hand, a senior official told news agency PTI. He was a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) operator.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy condoled Singh’s death.
48 hours to extricate body
After being brought out of the tunnel, the body was sent to the Nagarkurnool civil hospital for post-mortem and other procedures.
The body could be extricated following “very careful” digging and other efforts for more than 48 hours, the official said. It was buried under 10 feet of silt and steel.
Also read: Telangana tunnel collapse: Cadaver dogs of Kerala Police locate 2 bodies
A member of the search team told a TV channel the operation was sped up in the past three days by removing the metal scrap.
Cadaver dogs, trained to detect human parts and missing humans, had identified two spots inside the tunnel and digging was carried out by involving different agencies, including rat miners, he said.
“Yesterday [Saturday] around midnight, a hand was noticed. There were seven layers of steel (on the body). We cut the layers and removed the body," the official said.
Rs 25 lakh compensation
Nagarkurnool district Collector Badavath Santhosh said an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh would be provided to Singh’s family.
The mortal remains of Singh would be sent to his native place in Punjab, after the completion of medical procedures, in a special ambulance, an official release said.
Meanwhile, the search for the remaining workers continues as it is, the official added.
State Special Chief Secretary (Disaster Management) Arvind Kumar, who has been supervising the multi-agency search operation, appreciated the role of personnel of NDRF, state-run miner Singareni Collieries Ltd, and rat miners in the operation.
Earlier, the state government deployed cadaver dogs of Kerala Police to look for human presence and the search personnel carried out digging at the spots located by the canines.
Also read: Telangana tunnel collapse: Silt removal efforts stepped up as rescue ops enter ninth day
Search on for remaining seven
Eight persons — including engineers and labourers — were trapped as a portion of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project tunnel collapsed on February 22, and experts from the NDRF, Indian Army, Navy and other agencies made relentless efforts to locate them.
The trapped persons have been identified as Manoj Kumar (UP), Sri Niwas (UP), Sunny Singh (J&K), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand.
The search operation was complicated by the tough conditions inside the tunnel, including seepage of water, slush and debris.
The Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), had suggested possible locations for their presence though the conditions posed a challenge to them as well.
The digging carried out at some of the locations did not show any human presence.
(With agency inputs)