Rourkela: The bodies of all the five persons trapped inside the effluent discharging tunnel of the Rourkela Steel Plant have been recovered.

The last three bodies were recovered around 5:30pm on Saturday. The first body, identified as Raju Nayak, was recovered on June 9. The fire, civil and safety departments of the steel plant were working round the clock from June 9 to retrieve the bodies.

It was decided by the authorities that the entire rescue work would be concentrated inside the tunnel. The tunnel is 130 metres long.

Five persons, who were residents of Shitalpara, went missing since June 3. On June 9, wife of one of the missing persons Krishna Baraik lodged a complaint with the police at Uditnagar. She was being pressurised by scrap mafia not to lodge the complaint with the police.A police source said the group had entered the steel plant through one of the effluent discharging pipes to steal iron and other valuables. This was a new way through which the group attempted to steal iron from the plant after all the routes through which people were entering to pilfer were closed by the steel plant, said a senior official of the steel plant.

The 130-metre long tunnel discharges effluents, mostly chemicals, coal tar and waste water used in production at the plant. The exit point measures about three-and-half feet and the diameter of the pipe is five-and-half feet. A fire official said more than three-and-half feet of the tunnel is covered with silts and another one feet is filled with liquid leaving very little space above.

"This little space is full toxic gases and one really wonders how they could manage to cover a distance of more than 40 feet and enter the plant premises," said a fire man.