Telangana tunnel collapse Highlights: Rat miners reach Nagarkurnool to join rescue operation, robotic cameras brought in

Telangana tunnel collapse news LIVE: The rescue team is pumping oxygen to increase the chances of survival of trapped individuals.

"Even, even assuming they (the trapped persons) are in the lower part of the TBM machine, assuming even if it is intact on the top, where is the air (oxygen)? Underneath, how the oxygen will go," Jupally Krishna Rao told PTI.

Telangana tunnel collapse news LIVE: A team of Rat miners joined the rescue operations. They were also a part of the successful rescue operation for the Uttarkashi tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand in 2024.

" …there is difficulty as the distance where the incident has happened is 14 km from entrance point and because of water as well...it might take some time, but we hope that we will succeed," one of the miners told ANI.

Telangana tunnel collapse news LIVE: The trapped workers are from Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Punjab.

Two of the eight trapped in the SLBC tunnel are engineers, two operators and four labourers.

The individuals have been identified as Manoj Kumar and Sri Niwas from Uttar Pradesh, Sunny Singh (Jammu and Kashmir), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab), and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand, according to a PTI report.

Telangana tunnel collapse news LIVE: According to Jupally Krishna Rao, who has been overseeing the rescue operations along with Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, it will take at least three to four days to rescue the trapped individuals. 

"For removing all the debris and all that, in spite of all types of efforts, all types of organisations (working), it takes, I think it takes not less than 3-4 days (to extricate the people)," Jupally Krishna Rao told PTI.

ANI shared visuals from the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel, where rescue operations are underway to save eight trapped workers.

After visiting the accident site in Telangana, Minister Jupally Krishna Rao told PTI, “To be honest, the chances of their survival are very, very, very, very remote. Because I myself went up to the end, almost just 50 meters short (of the mishap site). When we took photographs, the end (of the tunnel) was visible. And out of the 9-meter diameter (of the tunnel)--almost 30 feet, out of that 30 feet, mud has piled up up to 25 feet.”

Telangana tunnel collapse news LIVE: Telangana Minister for Roads and Buildings Komatireeddy Venkat Reddy on Monday  prayed for the safe rescue of eight people, who remain trapped in a partially collapsed tunnel of Srisailam Left Bank Canal project.  “This is a very unfortunate incident. I pray to god that these eight people are alive. Our motto is to rescue the people…I pay to god Srisaila Mallanna to keep them safe,” the Minister told PTI.

Telangana tunnel collapse news LIVE: L&T's endoscopic operator Dowdeep said, "Through the endoscopic camera, we can track what is happening inside the tunnel. We have done this during the rescue operation in Uttarakhand as well. 2 teams have come. Endoscopic and robotic cameras have been brought."

Telangana tunnel collapse LIVE: Rat miners who were part of the successful rescue operation for Uttarkashi tunnel collapse that happened on October 31st, arrived in Nagarkurnool for the ongoing rescue operation for Srisailam Left Bank Canal collapse

Firoz Qureshi, a rat miner, said, " I have come from Delhi, our whole team has come from Delhi, Collector has called us here. 6 of us have come here and 6 more will be coming, we are a team of 12 people. In Uttarakhand, we had rescued 41 labourers...till now, we have not received much information. As of now, we have been told that we need to go along with NDRF and SDRF teams. It will be difficult to say something until we see the situation there"