Maharashtra: Eight die after elevator falls in 200 feet deep tunnel

 In a tragic incident, eight labourers working at an undercover tunnel for Bhima-Nira river linking project near Bhigwan in Pune district lost their lives after an elevator through which they were coming up, collapsed on Monday evening.

According to Bhigwan police, construction of an underground tunnel was going on and labourers were working nearly 200 feet below the surface where the incident took place at around 6.30 pm on Monday.

"After finishing the day's work, these eight workers were coming up  to the surface with the help of the elevator. However, the cable attached to the elevator tore mid-way and it collapsed in the tunnel and all eight labourers were killed on the spot," said Police Sub Inspector B N Pawar of Bhigwan police station. 

According to police, most of the labourers working at  the site are from other  states. After the tragedy, the police are now trying to ascertain the identity of the deceased workers. The project is under the Krishna Bhima Stabilisation scheme,for construction of 24.8 Km long Nira-Bhima link -5 tunnel.  The long-pending ambitious project aims to take water to water-scarce areas.