Now Reading: Seven dead, three missing in Uttarakhand tunnel accident
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Seven dead, three missing in Uttarakhand tunnel accident
Rescuers searched for three missing workers on Friday after seven were killed when water and debris swept into an under-construction tunnel at a hydropower project in Chamoli district. The accident occurred at…
The Story in Brief
Rescuers searched for three missing workers on Friday after seven were killed when water and debris swept into an under-construction tunnel at a hydropower project in Chamoli district. The accident occurred at the Tehri Hydro Develoment Corporation Ltd site in Mayapur-Pipaloti area. Nineteen workers were rescued overnight, but seven died, according to district disaster manegement officer N K Joshi. However, an earlier official report put the toll at six dead and 14 injured, with two missing. The number of fatalities has not been officially finalised.
Survivers described the sudden rush of water and wind. 'Water and wind came with high speed, like a storm,' one told ANI. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the site on Friday to oversee rescue operations involving NDRF, SDRF, ITBP and the Army. He said his goverment's priority was safe rescue. The injured are being treated. The terrain and weather are hampering the effort.
The Indian Opinion
The Chamoli accident highlites the recurring risks of hydropwer projects in the fragile Himalyas. Some will blame the rush for energy, but the real test is whether safety audits are enforced or ignored. The state goverment's response appears prompt, with multi-agency teams and the CM on site. Yet the discrepancy in the death toll, six, then seven, shows how chaos can delay accurate reporting. The final number of missing, and the rescue's success, will indicate if lessons have been learned from past disasters.
Sources (3): nationalheraldindia.com, deccanchronicle.com, timesnownews.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
