Rourkela: Police, fire brigade and the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force launched a joint operation on Saturday to rescue five youths allegedly trapped in a waste discharge tunnel of Rourkela Steel Plant.

Sources said one body was recovered from the tunnel in the evening when the operation had to be stopped because of poor visibility, but there was no official confirmation of this.

Though the youths - Krishna Badnaik, Gonu Lohar, Suraj Singh, Suraj Kurmi and Raju Nayak of Sitalpada slum in Uditnagar police limits - had gone missing since June 3, the rescue operation began on Saturday following a complaint by the family members of one of them. Udit Nagar police station in-charge D. Lakra confirmed receiving a complaint in this regard.

Sources said people from nearby slums frequently entered the tunnel in the hope of retrieving scrap items coming out of the plant. Though such activities are illegal, they are a major source of income for the slum-dwellers.

The youths went missing in the tunnel (Outfall-9) of the plant while on a similar scavenging mission. The area where the rescue operation was launched runs parallel to the steel plant boundary.