T'gana tunnel collapse: Body of TBM operator sent to native place in Punjab, rescue ops continue

Nagarkurnool: The mortal remains of Gurpreet Singh, which were recovered from the partially collapsed SLBC tunnel here, have been sent to his native place in Punjab, even as rescue operations continued on Monday to locate the remaining seven persons.

Gurpreet Singh, who worked as a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) operator for Robbins Co, was among the eight men trapped inside the tunnel after its partial collapse on February 22.

The body was transported in a special ambulance following postmortem and other procedures at Nagarkurnool civil hospital, official sources said.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh to his family.

The body could be extricated following "very careful" digging and other efforts for more than 48 hours. It was buried under silt at a depth of about 10 feet, a senior official said on Sunday.

Singh was identified based on his earring on the left ear lobe and tattoo on the right hand.

The search for the remaining workers continues, the official has said.

Apart from Gurpreet Singh, seven others trapped include Manoj Kumar (UP), Sunny Singh (J&K), Gurpreet Singh (Punjab) and Sandeep Sahu, Jegta Xess, and Anuj Sahu, all from Jharkhand.

The eight persons -- engineers and labourers -- got trapped in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project tunnel after a portion of it collapsed on February 22.

Experts from the NDRF, Indian Army, Navy and other agencies were making relentless efforts to pull them out to safety.