Cadaver dogs of the Kerala Police joined the rescue operation on Friday inside the partially collapsed Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) tunnel in Telangana, where eight individuals have remained trapped since February 22. The team, consisting of dogs and handlers, entered the tunnel in the morning to assist in locating human presence, according to officials.
The cadaver dogs, of the Belgian Malinois breed, are capable of detecting odours from a depth of up to 15 feet. Upon their arrival by air from Kerala, rescue officials entered the tunnel on Thursday to formulate a plan for deploying the dogs effectively.
A total of 110 rescue personnel, including teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), were inside the tunnel along with equipment required for digging.
The specially trained cadaver dogs were brought in following a request from the State Disaster Management Authority, which was approached for assistance by the National Disaster Management Authority, according to a Kerala government statement issued on Thursday.
Earlier in the operation, an NDRF sniffer dog was deployed to help identify areas suitable for excavation in an effort to detect human presence.
Experts from the NDRF, Indian Army, Navy, and other agencies continue their efforts to bring them to safety. The rescue operation is being carried out under challenging conditions, with persistent slush and water seepage complicating the process.
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