A mountain-side came crashing down in the Makerkote area on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in J& K’s Ramban district on Friday while a rescue operation was going on at the site after the collapse of an under-construction tunnel.
#WATCH | A portion of a mountain falls apart in the Makerkote area at Jammu–Srinagar National Highway in Ramban near the site of the recuse operation, where a part of an under-construction tunnel collapsed late last night pic.twitter.com/SAjDhwFgol
— ANI (@ANI) May 20, 2022
A labourer was killed and three rescued after a part of an under-construction tunnel collapsed on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in the Ramban district, officials said.
Nine workers are still trapped in the debris and their chances of survival are slim, according to officials said.
“We were not expecting something like this. Two machines got stuck. Due to windstorms and the rescue operation was impacted. About 16-17 hours of the operation was wasted and a new assessment has to be made," Deputy Commissioner of Ramban, Massaratul Islam said.
"Around 10:15 pm on Thursday, the audit tunnel of T3 on the highway near Khooni Nallah in Ramban collapsed, trapping 11-12 labourers of Sarla Company working there," news agency PTI cited a senior official as saying.
The rescue operation on the national highway stretch between Ramban and Ramsu started at midnight and was going on in full swing, with rock-breakers being used to reach out to those trapped, he said.
Union minister Jitendra Singh termed the collapse of a part of the tunnel "unfortunate".
"I am in constant touch with DC Mussrat Islam. Nearly 10 labour workers were trapped under the debris. Another two were rescued and hospitalised with injuries. Rescue operations are going on in full swing. Civil administration and police authorities are monitoring the situation," he said.
