Two more bodies recovered at Tapovan tunnel, rescue operation intensified

Two more bodies have been recovered from the slush of the Tapovan tunnel, where rescue operation has been underway since February 7, said Uttarakhand Director-General of Police (DGP) Ashok Kumar on Sunday.

A total of 40 bodies have been recovered so far in the Uttarakhand glacier burst incident, of which most of the bodies remain unidentified.

The Uttarakhand police, State Disaster Response Fund and National Disaster Response Force jawans are taking out the bodies, the DGP added.

"Recovered 2 bodies from the slush of the main tunnel at Tapovan where rescue operation was going on since 7th February Uttarakhand police, SDRF and NDRF jawans are taking out the bodies," DGP Kumar tweeted.

Following the recovery of the two new bodies, the search and rescue operation have been intensified.

"Search and rescue operations at Tapovan in Chamoli have been intensified following the recovery of two bodies from a tunnel today," said Chamoli District Magistrate Swati Bhadoria.

A glacier broke in the Tapovan-Reni area of Chamoli District of Uttarakhand on Sunday, which led to massive flooding in Dhauliganga and Alaknanda rivers and damaged houses and the nearby Rishiganga power project.