Telangana tunnel collapse: Body of UP engineer handed over to family

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

The body of Manoj Kumar was retrieved on Tuesday during the search operation, taking the total number of bodies found so far 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.

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.