10 workers trapped after tunnel collapses in Kashmir

Diggers work to clear the site where an under construction tunnel collapsed in Ramban district, in Indian-controlled Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir Government’s Department of Disaster Management via AP)

Ten workers are trapped after part of a tunnel collapsed in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The tunnel is part of a mountainous highway tunnel system that was under construction when it collapsed on Thursday night in the southern Ramban district.

Emergency workers are clearing the wreckage with diggers in an attempt to rescue the trapped workers.

Aamir Ali, an official at the government’s disaster management department, said three workers trapped at the entrance of the tunnel were rescued. They are being treated at a hospital.

The section that collapsed was an approach tunnel used for ventilation and moving supplies and equipment to the main tunnel which is under construction, Mr Ali said.

The tunnel is part of a vast network of bridges and tunnels on the strategic highway that connects two key cities of Srinagar and Jammu in the region.