Gopeshwar | The search and rescue operation for two missing workers following the tunnel accident in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district last week is going on despite the presence of significant sludge inside the tunnel, officials said.

According to the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), a joint team comprising the SDRF, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), local police, and other agencies has been continuously conducting search and rescue operations since the accident occurred on August 13.

The SDRF said that the search operation is going on despite the presence of significant sludge inside the tunnel, and all teams are coordinating to carry out the mission amid adverse conditions.

It added that water is being continuously pumped out of the tunnel, and thorough searches are being conducted using available resources and equipment.

Chamoli District Information Officer Dheeraj Karki told PTI that three of the five JCB machines trapped inside the three-kilometres-long tunnel during the accident have been retrieved so far, which has accelerated the search for the missing workers. He said that the remaining two machines, currently trapped in the debris, would also be extracted soon.

Debris and water had flooded THDC India's Mayapur-Pipalkoti tunnel following a landslide; eight people died in the accident, while two others remain missing. Twelve other workers, who were injured in the accident, were rescued from the tunnel and hospitalised.

According to officials, the missing workers are Lucas Topno from Jharkhand and Chetan Poyam from Chhattisgarh.