DEHRADUN: Six workers have died and two remain missing after water and debris flooded an under-construction THDC tunnel in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Thursday evening. The accident occurred at Mayapur in the Pipalkoti area after a landslide created a cavity in the tunnel structure.

The incident took place around 7:05 PM in the 2km-long Tail Race Tunnel, where construction is being managed by the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC). A total of 22 workers on the 2 PM to 10 PM shift were inside when the mix of slush and water breached the tunnel.

Key details of the incident and response include:

• Casualties: 6 confirmed dead, 2 missing, and 14 successfully rescued out of 22 workers present.
• Breach Location: The cavity formed approximately 1.4km inside the tunnel alignment following a suspected landslide above.
• Drainage Efforts: Dedicated pumps have been deployed by THDC to flush out the accumulated water.

Search and rescue operations were initially launched by the District Incident Response Force, local police, and the Central Industrial Security Force. Teams from the Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were subsequently deployed to search for the remaining two missing workers.