HYDERABAD

The cadaver sniffer dog squad from Kerala on Friday identified three spots for the trapped persons in the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel from February 22 morning, since when eight persons were trapped under the debris following the tunnel roof collapse.

According to official sources, the three spots identified by the sniffer dogs were marked so that the personnel engaged in the rescue work could take up digging/debris removal to find the trapped persons. The rescue teams are expected to make use of mini earthmovers (poclains) for debris removal.

The conveyor belt, which was restored to 12 km inside the tunnel from its mouth on March 4, was restored to 13.5 km on Friday and is expected to further speed up the debris removal by shifting the muck and other material except the metal parts of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) being cut into pieces.