20 trapped in Kullu tunnel

The labourers, who were on night shift, belonged to Patel Engineering Company. They were working inside the tunnel when landslides caused by a cloudburst brought tonnes of debris and boulders down and blocked the exit.

Kullu Sub-Divisional Officer Inder Singh Bhardwaj, who returned from the site, quoted an eyewitness as saying that the cloudburst occurred at about 12.45 am in the Jagrai Nullah at Barshani. He said the road leading to the tunnel was badly damaged but the bridge over the nullah was safe.

A company official said two machines had been pressed into service to remove the slush and boulders. He added that machinery worth about Rs 20 crore had been damaged in the incident.

As the flash floods struck in the early hours, around 500 people living in 250 huts in the labour colony at the project site immediately moved to safer places, sources said. As the floods hit again around 1.30 am, nearly 70 hutments, the main approach road, two bridges and heavy machinery were washed away and vast low-lying land inundated.