Body of UP engineer trapped during tunnel collapse handed over to family

Nagarkurnool, Telangana: The body of an engineer from Uttar Pradesh was recovered from the partially collapsed tunnel of the SLBC project here and handed over to his family on Wednesday, officials said.

Manoj Kumar's body was recovered on Tuesday during the search operation, bringing the total number of bodies found to two.

An official release on Wednesday said steps are being taken to expedite the operation to locate the six others who continue to remain trapped in the tunnel.

As part of the search operation, the process of removal of soil and water was going on, it said.

A total of eight individuals—including engineers and labourers—were trapped in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project tunnel when a portion of it collapsed on February 22, PTI reported.

Those trapped have been identified as Manoj Kumar (UP), Sri Niwas (UP), Sunny Singh (J&K), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, Santosh Sahu and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand.

Personnel from state, central and private agencies are engaged in the search operation.