Death toll rises to 32 in India glacier collapse, 200 missing

Feb. 10 (UPI) -- The death toll from the Himalayan glacier break and dam flooding rose to 32 with more than 200 still missing Wednesday as emergency crews continued to fight to free utility workers trapped in a tunnel.

The workers became trapped in the utility tunnel in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand on Sunday when floodwaters from the destroyed dams blocked the entrance with debris and slush. Rescuers have been working 24-hour days to remove the debris but have not been able to create an opening yet.

"The blocked area spotted in the images are likely to be slush," Manjunath P.C., commandant of the Indian Reserve Battalion, said. "And the presence of air pockets will mean that our people may be trapped there and that we will have to get to that point."

Emergency agencies started using a helicopter with an electromagnetic pulse imager over the tunnel to get an idea of how much slush and debris still has to be removed. Crews are also expected to send in a camera drone into the tunnel once they are able to create a large enough space to send it in.

"The drones are being used for thermal and laser scanning of the tunnel to get traces of the trapped workers," Riddhim Aggarwal, deputy general of the state disaster response force, said. "Apart from this, the helicopters are also being used for remote sensing so as to enable geographical mapping of the tunnel. This will not only clear the situation to much extent but also tell us about the amount of slush inside."

Navneet Bhullar, the state disaster response commandant, said crews have also found boulders as part of the slush and debris blocking the tunnel.

"It is almost impossible to clear them manually but only by the heavy excavation machines, which are doing so," Bhullar said. "But there are limitations in the exercise. We are hopeful of reaching the trapped workers with our constant efforts."