Rescuers have pulled out seven bodies from a tunnel while at least 125 people were missing after a glacier burst in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand triggered a massive avalanche and floods in the Alaknanda river system on Sunday. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said the numbers could be higher and announced a compensation of '4 lakh to the next of kin of those killed in the “massive disaster”. Two power projects - NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project - were extensively damaged with scores of labourers trapped in tunnels as the waters and sludge came rushing in. 

Seven bodies have been recovered from one of the tunnels in Tapovan and a search for the rest of the missing people is underway by ITBP and SDRF personnel, Rawat said here on his return from a visit to the affected areas. Rawat said at least 125 people including two policemen were missing and the numbers could be higher as authorities of the damaged hydel projects are not in a position to give a precise figure. All efforts are focused at the moment to pull out those feared trapped inside the other tunnels that are clogged with 35-40 feet of debris, Rawat said.