Itanagar, Aug 3: The search operation to trace the three remaining labourers out of 19 who went missing from a road construction site in Arunachal Pradesh's Kurung Kumey district, has been suspended after over three weeks, an official said Wednesday.
The rescue efforts were officially suspended on August 1, Kurung Kumey Deputy Commissioner Nighee Bengia said.
"There is no further hope of rescuing the remaining three missing labourers, as the areas have already been thoroughly searched by SDRF and police teams," the DC said.
The inaccessible nature of the locations, inclement weather and the threat of venomous snakes also hampered the rescue operation, Bengia said.
Of the 19 missing workers, 10 were rescued, while the bodies of five labourers were found in a decomposed condition. One of them drowned in the Furak river, officials said.
The labourers, hailing from Assam, had fled the road construction site along the India-China border on July 5 after they were reportedly denied leave to go home. Following this, they took off for their homes on foot through jungles in two groups of eight and 11.
