Hopes fade as rescuers struggle to find 35 men trapped in Indian Himalayas tunnel

Machines are used to clear a site next to a damaged dam after a flash flood swept a mountain valley destroying dams and bridges, at Raini village in Chamoli district, in the northern state of Uttarakhand, India, February 12, 2021. REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis

LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - Rescuers used heavy machinery to remove slush clogging a tunnel in the Indian Himalayas on Friday in a search for 35 people missing since a Feb. 7 flash flood, though hopes of finding anyone alive were fading.

Those trapped in the tunnel in the northern state of Uttarakhand were among 171 people still unaccounted for after water, rocks and debris possibly triggered by an avalanche surged down the Dhauliganga river valley, destroying dams and bridges.