Seven killed in Uttarakhand hydropower tunnel accident as rescue continues

At least seven workers have been killed after water and debris burst into a state-run hydropower tunnel in India's northern state of Uttarakhand. The accident happened at a construction site late on Thursday after a landslide triggered flooding inside the tunnel. Rescue teams are still working to reach people trapped in the flooded section.

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Local officials said 13 other workers were injured in the incident. India's State Disaster Management Authority said three workers remain missing. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said a "war-like rescue operation" was under way, and added that evacuating every worker safely was the top priority.

Videos shared by local authorities showed rescue workers wearing head-mounted torches and using makeshift rafts to move through the waterlogged tunnel. Amrit Lal Meena, commander of the National Disaster Response Force team, said the water level inside the tunnel had risen significantly after crews first reached the site. The difficult conditions have slowed the operation in a fragile Himalayan area already affected by heavy monsoon rains.

The accident highlights the risks facing large infrastructure projects in the Himalayan region, where construction work often takes place in unstable terrain and during severe weather. Uttarakhand has been battered by heavy monsoon rains in recent days, and the state has seen repeated landslides and flooding in the past. Officials and rescue teams are now dealing with both the immediate danger inside the tunnel and the wider challenge of working in a remote mountain environment.

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The incident also comes amid broader concern about construction safety in India's mountain states. Last month, 20 people working in a tunnel for another state-run hydroelectric project were killed in Sikkim, and in 2023, 41 workers were rescued after being trapped for 17 days inside a tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand. Those cases have kept attention on the safety of tunnel projects, emergency planning, and the impact of development in ecologically sensitive areas.

What remains unclear is the condition of the missing workers and how long the rescue effort will take. Officials have not yet said what caused the landslide beyond the heavy rain and unstable ground reported at the site. The next developments will depend on whether rescuers can lower the water level and reach the trapped section of the tunnel safely.

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