Chamoli tunnel incident: 16 rescued, 3 feared trapped after water, debris enter under-construction site

At least three workers were feared trapped and 16 rescued on Thursday after water and debris entered an under-construction tunnel at a hydroelectric project site in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, PTI reported on Thursday, citing officials.

The incident occurred at around 7 pm at the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) Limited project site in the Pipalkoti area, according to information released by the Uttarakhand government.

The state government said 18 to 19 workers were trapped inside the tunnel after water and debris entered it. So far, 16 workers have been safely rescued, while efforts to evacuate those still inside are continuing.


Police, the district administration and multiple agencies, including the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), are involved in the rescue operation.

Earlier, officials said at least 19 workers were trapped following the incident, with rescue teams deployed to reach those inside the tunnel.

District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar reached the spot after receiving information about the incident and was monitoring the relief and rescue operations, ANI reported.

Teams from the district administration, police, SDRF, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Army and other agencies were present at the site, ANI said.

The administration has been working to safely evacuate the remaining workers, with the rescue operation continuing at the project site.