Eight out of the 19 construction workers, who went missing in Arunachal Pradesh’s Kurung Kumey district near the Indo-China border on July 5, were found on Saturday, The Indian Express reported. They were rescued near the Huri village in the Damin circle of the district.
The workers said they had lost their way after taking a wrong turn and had been wandering in dense forest for days.
All the 19 men were working for the Border Roads Organisation and had gone missing on July 5 after they fled a construction site as their contractor had reportedly denied them leave for Eid. The body of one of the labourers was found in a river under the Damin circle on July 18. Ten persons continue to remain missing.
The rescued workers told the police that they had divided themselves into three different groups and went in different directions after fleeing from the construction site, NDTV reported. They said that three of their colleagues died over the last fortnight.
“They said that two of them fell into the river, and one person died while resting on a stone,” Kurung Kumey Deputy Commissioner Nighee Bengia said.
Superintendent of Police Abhimanyu Poswal said that the workers found on Saturday were weak in health and could not speak properly. Poswal added that they are being given medical assistance and the district administration has deployed officials for providing them help.
Officials said that the families of those rescued have been informed.
Joynal Abedin, whose son Inamul Hasan is among those found, said he received a call early in the morning from a government official.
“He shared some photos with me and asked whether my son was among them...I cannot explain how I felt when I saw his photo,” Abedin said, according to The Indian Express.
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