Rescuers have found the body of a worker in India-controlled Kashmir after part of a tunnel collapsed in the Himalayan region.

They are continuing to search for nine others who are trapped, officials said.

The tunnel is part of a mountainous road system that was under construction when it collapsed on Thursday night in the southern district of Ramban.

Ramban’s top civil official, Mussarat Islam, said the body of a worker from the eastern state of West Bengal was recovered.

Rescue workers watch from a distance
Rescue workers watch from a distance (Dar Yasin/AP)

He said various crews were working to rescue the nine workers who are still missing.

“We hope that we find somebody alive,” he said.

Emergency workers were using diggers to clear the wreckage and rescue the trapped workers.

Earlier, three workers trapped at the entrance of the tunnel were rescued and were being treated at a hospital, said Aamir Ali, an official at the government’s disaster management department.

The section that collapsed was an approach tunnel used for ventilation and moving supplies and equipment to the main, under-construction tunnel, Mr Ali said.