Uttarakhand: Water from stream gushes into under-construction tunnel, 114 workers and engineers rescued

The water was first pumped out of the tunnel using heavy equipment and the workers were safely brought out, officials said.

Prompt action by the police on Monday led to the rescue of 114 workers and engineers trapped in an under-construction tunnel of the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail project after water from a nearby stream gushed in.

All of them were rescued by police personnel in Uttarakhand's Rishikesh district, Muni ki Reti SHO Ritesh Shah said.

Ajay Pratap Singh, the manager of Larsen & Toubro -- the construction company implementing the project -- informed the Shivpuri outpost about the workers being trapped in chest-deep water about 300 metres inside the Edit-2 tunnel around 10 am.

Head constables Ajayraj Singh, Manish Kumar, Ravindra Rana, Jaideep Negi, Diwakar Fuloria and Deepak Rawat of the Jal Police were deployed to launch a rescue operation, Shah said.

The water was first pumped out of the tunnel using heavy equipment and the workers were safely brought out, he said.

Narendranagar Sub-divisional Magistrate DS Negi said the police team performed a commendable job and emptied the tunnel.

The company employees are now cleaning the garbage inside the tunnel, he said.