The number of deaths in Uttarakhand’s Pipalkoti tunnel accident rose to eight on Saturday after rescue teams recovered one more body from the site. Operations are currently underway to locate and evacuate two other individuals who remain trapped inside the under-construction THDC tunnel.
Providing an update on the intensive rescue efforts, Chamoli Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Vivek Prakash on Saturday stated that the teams are battling difficult weather conditions and high water levels to reach the missing personnel. Detailing the timeline of the response, Prakash informed that the local administration and police were the first responders on the scene. “We have been engaged here since the evening before last. The entire administration team and police team were the first responders to arrive. After that, we called everyone–SDRF, DDRF, and NDRF arrived. The SDRF team, in particular, has done a lot of work,” he added. Rescue operations by NDRF and SDRF teams are underway. It involves coordinated efforts by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), District Disaster Response Force (DDRF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Earlier today, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami asserted that the safety of personnel on construction projects must be the “top priority at any cost” and ordered a magisterial inquiry into the accident.
