Uttarakhand, Dec 31 : Around 60 people were injured after two locomotive trains collided inside a tunnel at the Vishnugad-Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, officials said on Wednesday.
The accident occurred late on Tuesday during a shift change at the THDC (India) construction site in Pipalkoti. According to initial information, one locomotive train carrying workers and officials rammed into another train transporting construction material inside the single-track tunnel.
Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar said that 109 people were on board the train ferrying workers at the time of the accident, and nearly 60 of them sustained injuries. He added that all those involved have been rescued and the condition of the injured persons is stable.
The District Magistrate explained that such locomotive trains are routinely used inside long tunnels to transport workers, engineers, officials and construction material. The collision took place while both trains were moving inside the Pipalkoti tunnel of the 444-megawatt Vishnugad-Pipalkoti project on the Alaknanda River.
The Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Chamoli said that 10 injured persons were shifted to the district hospital in Gopeshwar, while 17 others are undergoing treatment at Vivekananda Hospital in Pipalkoti. The remaining injured workers were treated on-site or at nearby medical facilities, and their condition is reported to be stable.
The impact of the collision triggered panic inside the tunnel, with workers scrambling to escape the confined space amid screams and chaos. Following the incident, teams from the project management and local administration rushed to the site and immediately launched rescue and relief operations.
The Vishnugad-Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project is being developed by THDC (India) Limited between Helang and Pipalkoti in Chamoli district and is designed to generate power for the northern grid.