HYDERABAD: After 16 days of rescue operations, one body part was recovered in a tunnel in Nagarkurnool, Telangana, on Sunday night. The unidentified body was found trapped inside a machine. Body parts, including hands, were found inside the machine.

Efforts are ongoing to dismantle the machine and retrieve the body. The human presence in the tunnel was detected by the Kerala Police's cadaver dogs. The cadaver dogs were brought in the previous day at the request of the National Disaster Response Authority. Telangana Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy said that cadaver dogs have detected the scent of human bodies and directed officials to take immediate steps to deploy robots for rescue operations.

Currently, 11 teams are searching. A portion of the tunnel, constructed as part of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal Irrigation Project, collapsed on February 22. The project and site engineers, as well as six workers, were trapped inside the tunnel. The rescue mission was extremely difficult due to the water and mud in the tunnel.