Joshimath, Uttarakhand – On Sunday morning, Rishi Prasad, 57, ran as fast as he could to save his son but he could reach the tunnel where his son was, massive boulders, trees and mud had already blocked its entrance.
Abhishek Panth, 24, was working in an under-construction tunnel near Tapovan Dam, at the confluence of Dhauliganga and Rishiganga Rivers – in Chamoli district about 280km (173 miles) east of Dehradun, capital of the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand.
Panth is among the dozens of people still trapped inside the 2km (1.24-mile) long tunnel, Aparna Kumar of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which is a part of the rescue operations, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.