NEW DELHI: Seven workers were killed and 13 injured on Thursday night following a landslide that sent water and debris gushing into a tunnel under construction in northern India.

The incident occurred in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, where workers were constructing a tunnel for a state-run hydropower project.

Three workers are still missing, while 19 were rescued from the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation site, the state’s disaster management authority said in a statement.

Videos shared by authorities showed rescue workers equipped with head-mounted torches using makeshift rafts to reach the flooded section of the tunnel.

Uttarakhand has been battered by heavy monsoon rains in recent days. Accidents on large construction sites are common in India, but ecologists say excessive development projects have led to more disasters in the fragile Himalayan areas.

Last month, 20 people working in a tunnel for another state-run hydroelectric project were killed in the remote north-eastern state of Sikkim.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2026