India, Feb. 25 -- The hopes of saving the eight workers trapped in a collapsed and inundated Telangana tunnel dimmed on Monday as rescue personnel struggled to make headway even as rat hole miners were also pressed into action, with continuous water ingress and a deep slush hampering the operation, people aware of the matter said.

Nearly 600 personnel from the National Disaster Response Forces (NDRF), army, navy, Union ministry of road transport and highways, state-owned firm Singareni Collieries, and members of the team involved in the Silkyara rescue operations were working round-the-clock to reach the workers, who were trapped around the 14-km mark inside the 34km tunnel. As the operation entered its third day, NDRF deputy commandant ...