Rescue Ops Underway at Tapovan Tunnel; 54 Bodies Recovered So Far

Three bodies were recovered from Tapovan on Monday, which takes the body count at the tunnel to 8.

Rescue operations continue at Tapovan Tunnel, following the glacier burst in Joshimath, causing a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river, in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.

(Photo: PTI)

Rescue operations at Uttarakhand’s Tapovan tunnel in Joshimath continue after the flash flood in Chamoli district on 7 February left people stranded. The State Disaster Response Force on Monday, 15 February, informed that a total of 54 bodies have been recovered so far.

Uttarakhand DGP Ashok Kumar informed news agency ANI that 3 bodies were recovered from Tapovan tunnel on Monday, which takes the body count at the tunnel to 8. He added that rescue operations will resume for the next 3-4 days.

According to their postmortem reports, the people found had died during the glacier mishap. The flash flood last week may have been the result of an avalanche in the upper reaches of the Alaknanda river system.

“Operation is still underway, we are working 24/7. Seven bodies have been recovered in Raini, so a total of 15 bodies have been recovered from the two work sites,” Aditya Pratap Singh, Deputy Commandant of the National Disaster Response Force told ANI.

Chamoli police further informed that 179 missing persons cases have been registered at Joshimath Police Station till now, ANI reported.

Joint operations are being conducted in the area by teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

On Sunday, the authorities had said that 41 bodies had been recovered.

(With inputs from ANI)