Madhya Pradesh tunnel caves in; 2 trapped, 7 labourers rescued

 

Seven labourers were rescued while two others were still trapped after an under-construction tunnel caved in at Sleemanabad in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni district, officials said on Sunday.

The tunnel of the Bargi canal project had caved in late Saturday night, trapping nine labourers. Seven of them were so far pulled out from the debris, Madhya Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajesh Rajora told PTI.

The State Disaster Emergency Response Force (SDERF) team and other personnel were making all efforts to rescue the other two trapped workers, said Rajora, who was monitoring the rescue operation from Bhopal.

The trapped labourers were responding to calls from rescue personnel, Sleemanabad Sub-Divisional Magistrate Sangh Mitra Gautam said.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke to Katni collector and the superintendent of police about the incident. Chouhan directed officials to make arrangements for providing treatment to the injured labourers, Rajora said.