An operator of a shotcrete machine deployed at Uttarakhand’s Silkyara tunnel, a part of which had collapsed trapping 41 workers for 17 days in November, was killed on Sunday after the machine slipped and rolled into a ditch.

The deceased has been identified as 24-year-old Govind Kumar, a resident of Didihat town in Pithoragarh. He had joined work two months ago.

While locals said the machine fell into a ditch near the mouth of the tunnel, officials claimed that the accident took place 150 metres away.

“The machine on which Govind Kumar was sitting fell into a 25 feet-deep trench near the mouth of the tunnel. The vehicle was standing there and the driver was away,” a villager told local reporters on Tuesday.

G.S. Tomar, in charge of Genwala police station under which the area falls, said: “The victim was taken to a local primary health centre where he was declared brought dead.”

“According to the statement of the officials, the accident took place 150 metres from the mouth of the tunnel,” Tomar added.

The Silkyara tunnel had hit the headlines on November 12 last year when 41 workers got trapped in it after a 57-metre stretch collapsed. Work at the tunnel resumed from the Barkot side in February this year.