Four persons were injured and at least 10 were trapped in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district on Thursday night after a portion of an under-construction tunnel collapsed.
A small part of the tunnel at the Khooni Nallah collapsed while an audit of the construction was underway, PTI quoted unidentified officials as saying. The tunnel is located on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
Several machines and trucks were damaged after the collapse.
Ten labourers are missing after the tunnel collapse, the Jammu and Kashmir Disaster Management Authority said, according to ANI.
Visuals by ANI showed an excavator engaging in rescue operations and an ambulance standing at the site.
Five workers who are trapped inside the tunnel are residents of West Bengal, reported PTI. They were identified as Jadav Roy (23), Gautam Roy (22), Sudhir Roy (31), Dipak Roy (33), and Parimal Roy (38). Shiva Chowhn (26) is from Assam. Others trapped include Nepali citizens Nawaraj Chowdhury (26), and Kushi Ram (25). Two Jammu and Kashmir residents Muzaffar, (38) and Israt (30) are also stuck inside the tunnel.
Ramban Deputy Commissioner Massaratul Islam and Senior Superintendent of Police Mohita Sharma visited the site to oversee rescue operations.
Union minister Jitendra Singh said that the rescue operations were in progress and civic officials and police authorities have been monitoring the situation. Two workers were rescued, he added.
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