Jalandhar: Engineer Suresh's decomposed body recovered from soil after 45-hr rescue operation | Watch Video

Jalandhar, August 14: The body of engineer Suresh Kumar, who had been trapped beneath 80 feet of soil at the construction site of the Delhi-Katra Expressway on the Kartarpur-Kapurthala road in Jalandhar, was recovered on Monday.

Suresh Kumar got trapped when the soil collapsed on Saturday evening. Rescue efforts had been underway since 8 pm on Saturday. Suresh and his colleague, Pawan, were engaged in repairing a malfunctioning machine when the unfortunate incident occurred.

Despite the tireless efforts of the NDRF teams and the district administration, spanning over a period of more than 40 hours, they were unable to rescue him. His body was taken to the Civil Hospital for a postmortem examination.

Sources said Suresh's body had started decomposing, and it seemed he had died before the NDRF rescue team arrived at the scene. As per administration officials, the body was found at a depth of 70 feet.  Suresh (52) was a resident of Jind in Haryana.

The rescue teams had been facing the biggest challenge during the rescue operation due to a pond adjacent to the rescue site. The NDRF team had excavated up to 50 feet, but the soil after that was extremely soft due to the pond, and it kept sliding during the excavation. Hence, the rescue operation faced significant challenges, and it took a considerable amount of time.

Five JCB machines were continuously used to remove the soil from the site. Despite the efforts, Suresh could not be saved. 

Jalandhar ADC Jasvir Singh said after a 45-hour-long rescue operation, Suresh's body was finally retrieved. He said the soil became very soft after digging 50 feet, and it kept sliding, causing difficulties in the rescue operation. On Sunday evening, the soil had slipped again. On Monday morning as well, the soil had slipped twice.

Due to the presence of an old pond near the rescue site, the NDRF team had to alter its strategy multiple times.  Suresh's younger brother, Satyawan, said they received the news of the incident Sunday morning, after which they reached Jalandhar. 

Under the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway project, work was underway to build a flyover on the road in the village of Basramapur, near Kartarpur. On Saturday, work was being done to bore into the ground using an R-1500 machine to create pillars. Suddenly, the machine broke down. To repair it, engineers Pawan and Suresh were called from Delhi. On Saturday evening at 7 pm, both of them went to Basramapur with oxygen cylinders and other essential equipment. However, the soil collapsed and Suresh got trapped in the borewell.

When Pawan tried to save him, the safety belt broke. Pawan managed to escape, but Suresh remained stuck inside.