Himalayan Tunnel Flood Kills 7 Indian Workers
Himalayan Tunnel Flood Kills 7 Indian Workers
The News
At least seven construction workers are dead after water and debris burst into an under-construction hydropower tunnel in India's northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand on Thursday evening.
The tunnel is at Pipalkoti, in Chamoli district, and is being dug for the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation, a state-owned company that runs dams and power stations across the Himalayas, The Independent reported.
Twenty-two men were inside when the water rushed in, according to the State Disaster Response Force. Al Jazeera reported 13 injured and three workers still missing, citing India's State Disaster Management Authority; The Independent reported at least 14 injured and two missing.
Al Jazeera reported the surge followed a landslide, after days of heavy monsoon rain.
Timeline
"Around 6.30pm, a significant amount of debris and water surged into the tunnel," district magistrate Gaurav Kumar said, per The Independent. The State Disaster Response Force put the time at about 7 p.m. The strong current swept many of the men toward the tunnel's exit, according to reports from the site cited by The Independent.
Soldiers from the Indian army, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the national and state disaster response forces and the Central Industrial Security Force were sent in alongside district teams and local police, working through the night to reach the men.
The rescue operation continued. Videos shared by local authorities showed rescuers in head-mounted torches using makeshift rafts to reach the flooded section, Al Jazeera reported. Twenty-one of the 22 men had been brought out, seven of them dead, The Independent reported.
Reactions
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said a "war-like rescue operation" was under way for the workers still stuck inside. "Evacuating every worker safely is our top priority," he said in a social media post quoted by Al Jazeera.
Dhami said he had been taking real-time updates from senior officers. "I spoke to the injured workers admitted to hospital; their condition is stable," he said, per The Independent. He added that he had informed the chief ministers of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh — the eastern and central states the laborers came from — that their residents were being treated in Uttarakhand.
Amrit Lal Meena, commander of the National Disaster Response Force team, described the conditions: "When our team reached the site and started the operation, there was a lot of water inside the tunnel and water was also seeping from the sides. Since then, the water level has increased considerably."
Lakhpat Butola, the local member of the state assembly, called it a deeply tragic incident and said the administration's priority was supporting the rescue teams, The Independent reported.
What's Next
Rescuers are still working to account for the missing men inside the flooded tunnel, with officials giving differing figures of two or three unaccounted for. The injured are being treated at a nearby hospital, where Dhami said their condition is stable.
Heavy monsoon rain is continuing to hit the region, which complicates the operation. Chamoli has had days of downpours; on Monday a metal bridge in the district's Niti valley was ripped from its foundations by a torrent of muddy water, an event captured on video.
More
Accidents on large construction sites are common in India, but ecologists say heavy development has produced more disasters in the fragile Himalayas, Al Jazeera reported. Last month, 20 workers were killed in a tunnel at another state-run hydroelectric project in the northeastern state of Sikkim.
In November 2023, 41 men were trapped for 17 days in a road tunnel at Silkyara in Uttarakhand before being rescued. In February 2021, part of a glacier broke away above the Rishiganga project in the same Chamoli district, sending a wall of water and rock down the valley and killing about 200 people, most of them workers at two power schemes.
Floods and landslides have killed hundreds across India since the monsoon season began in June, Al Jazeera reported. Flooding in the northeastern state of Assam has killed at least 103 people, a disaster scientists said was worsened by unregulated construction and deforestation, according to The Independent.
UMass Dartmouth Running Back, 18, Stabbed to Death
Trump Vows 'AI Force,' Czar; Polls Name Change
Sep 20, 2026
Iran Sends Trump Three Conditions to End War
Sep 19, 2026
Faulty AI Intel Nearly Started War With China
Sep 19, 2026
German General Breuer Elected NATO's Top Officer
Sep 19, 2026
Nobel Laureate: War, Sanctions Crushing Iranians
Sep 19, 2026
Dutch Police Disperse Violent Far-Right Hague Protest
Sep 19, 2026
GOP Midterm Odds Fade With 45 Days Left
Sep 19, 2026
Maher Rejects Tarlov's Claim Democrats Are Less Crazy
Sep 19, 2026
Patrick Clancy Breaks Silence After Ex-Wife Killed Kids
Sep 19, 2026
Trump Cuts Park Staff, Diverts Fees to DC
Sep 19, 2026
Holocaust Heirs Sue LA Museums Over Looted Art
Sep 19, 2026
Trump's Fed Chair Hikes Rates, Defying White House
Sep 19, 2026
Miller Drives Push to Deport Illegal Immigrant Children
Sep 19, 2026
US Lifts Sanctions on Eritrea's Military, Ruling Party
Sep 19, 2026
Air Force Admits US Has Space Weapons
Sep 19, 2026
Turkey Revokes License of Iran's Mellat Bank
Sep 19, 2026
Billionaire Ratcliffe Blasts Britain Over Immigration, Taxes
Sep 19, 2026
Navajo Nation Flash Flood Kills Three
Sep 19, 2026
Explosions Over Riyadh Trigger Saudi Air Alerts
Sep 19, 2026
Sep 19, 2026