Uttarakhand glacier burst: 8 bodies recovered from Tapovan tunnel so far

As many as 8 bodies have been recovered from Chamoli's Tapovan tunnel in the Uttarakhand glacier burst incident, said NDRF Deputy Commandant

As many as 8 bodies have been recovered from Chamoli's Tapovan tunnel in the Uttarakhand glacier burst incident, said National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Deputy Commandant Aditya Pratap Singh on Monday.

"A total of 8 bodies have been recovered from here (Tapovan tunnel) so far. Operation is still underway. NDRF is working 24/7. A total of seven bodies have been recovered in Raini, so a total of 15 bodies have been recovered from the two work sites," said NDRF Deputy Commandant.

The Chamoli Police informed that the body count in the glacier burst incident has reached 54. Meanwhile, 179 cases of missing people have been registered at Joshimath Police Station.

"Three bodies were retrieved today from the Tapovan tunnel, taking the body count to 54 so far. Cases of 179 missing people have been registered at Joshimath Police Station till now. Relief and rescue operation continues," said Chamoli Police.

PK Tiwari, Commandant of NDRF on Sunday had said that they are facing a few difficulties in taking out the bodies from the tunnel. Tiwari had said, "Tonnes of the debris is stuck inside the tunnel. There is a limitation to the amount of work that can be done."

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand Police on Sunday had said that the Alaknanda River at Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal is flowing at the normal level, no alert has been issued by the district administration in this regard.

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