More than two weeks after eight workers were trapped under a partially collapsed tunnel in Telangana's Nagarkurnool, the rescue team on Sunday retrieved one body from the silt.
The body has been sent for postmortem and efforts are on to ascertain the identity of the deceased.
According to police, the body could be extricated following careful digging for more than 48 hours.
Meanwhile, the search continues for the remaining workers trapped under the debris.
Eight persons, including engineers and labourers, remained trapped after a portion of the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) project tunnel collapsed on February 22.
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Experts from the NDRF, Indian Army, Navy and other agencies are making relentless efforts to pull them out to safety.
A team of cadaver dogs trained to detect human remains has also been deployed for the rescue mission. The Human Remains Detection Dogs (HRDDs) from the Kerala Police are capable of detecting scent from a depth of up to 15 feet.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who visited the tunnel on March 2, had suggested to the officials to use robots inside the tunnel to avoid any danger to the rescue personnel.
The Telangana government has decided to deploy robots for the rescue operation from March 11 as the challenging conditions inside the tunnel, including water and slush, pose significant risks.