Hyderabad, Feb. 24 -- Rescue teams struggled against rising water levels and 15-foot-deep slush on Sunday as hopes dimmed for eight people trapped inside a tunnel in Telangana since Saturday morning, with authorities deploying innovative methods in their desperate rescue attempts.

The workers, including two engineers, became trapped when a portion of the roof collapsed at the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Nagarkurnool district, approximately 120km from Hyderabad. Rescue teams have been forced to use fishing rafts, tyres, wooden and bamboo planks to navigate through the flooded tunnel. Teams have managed to reach the rear of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) at the 14th kilometre of the 43.93km tunnel, but further progress has ...