15 Indian workers feared trapped after tunnel blast kills 10
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The collapse was likely triggered by a blast, the cause of which was yet to be ascertained.
PHOTO: ST FILE
- At least nine people died and 15 remain trapped after a tunnel collapsed during a hydropower project in Sikkim, India.
- The collapse was likely caused by a blast deep inside the tunnel, possibly triggered by natural factors amid recent heavy monsoon rains.
- Rescue efforts are hindered by toxic methane gas, with specialised teams deployed, highlighting risks from infrastructure projects in fragile Himalayan areas.
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GUWAHATI, India – Fifteen Indian workers were feared trapped on July 21 after a blast caused by a suspected gas leak in a tunnel at a hydroelectric project in the rugged state of Sikkim killed 10 people, the authorities said.
The July 20 incident took place at state-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation’s (NHPC) project on the Teesta river in the north-eastern state’s village of Samardung, district official Subash Ghimirey told Reuters.
A sudden burst of gas suspected to be methane trapped or embedded in rocks in the tunnel caused an explosion that sent out dense fumes and toxic gas, NHPC said in a statement.
Survival chances for the trapped workers were slim, state disaster management official Rajiv Roka said, as rescuers had to battle the fumes, making their task difficult.
At least 25 project workers and officials were trapped in the tunnel, NHPC said, a tally that includes the 10 bodies retrieved.
Photographs on the state government’s Facebook page showed rescuers wearing orange hazard suits unloading oxygen cylinders, ropes and other emergency equipment from a vehicle. REUTERS
