Death toll in Uttarakhand tunnel tragedy hits 10 as 2 more bodies recovered

The bodies of two missing workers were recovered from the under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Tuesday—five days after a landslide left 22 workers trapped in it—taking the number of lives lost in the tragedy to 10.

State Disaster Response Force Commandant Arpan Yaduvanshi told The Indian Express that the six-day-long search and rescue operation, involving nearly 200 personnel, concluded on Tuesday at the site of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation India Limited’s Vishnugad-Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project.

According to officials, the workers were concreting the lining of the tunnel—an underground passage for water discharge—when the tragedy struck on August 13. Initially, 12 workers were rescued and the bodies of seven workers were recovered. The rescued workers sustained injuries in the incident.