At least 12 workers were killed and 13 others remained trapped for more than 24 hours after a tunnel under construction collapsed in Namche district of Sikkim state following a suspected methane explosion, officials said on Tuesday, adding that the death toll could rise.
Meanwhile, members of a mining safety team from neighboring West Bengal who joined the rescue operation on Tuesday claimed to have discovered eight more bodies inside the tunnel. However, the Namche district administration was unable to verify these allegations at the time of publication.
Read also | Tunnel collapse: Bengal Chief Minister talks to his Sikkim counterpart and offers assistance
A total of 25 workers were trapped inside the collapsed tunnel of the NHPC Teesta Phase VI hydropower project at Samardong in South Sikkim shortly after 1pm on Monday.
“The 12 bodies have been recovered by 7pm on Tuesday, and 13 are still missing,” said Anupa Tamling, Namche district collector. He added, “We will carry out the rescue operation until late at night and will resume it early Wednesday morning. Seven bodies have been identified and recovered.”
The senior official said that among the deceased were migrant workers from West Bengal, Punjab, Assam and Uttarakhand.
The government announces compensation and investigation
Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, who visited the accident site along with Governor Om Prakash Mathur on Tuesday, announced the donation. $4 lakh each to the relatives of the deceased $50,000 for each wounded person.
“A high-level committee will be formed to investigate the matter,” the Prime Minister told reporters.
The Prime Minister added that a special mining rescue team from neighboring West Bengal had reached the site to assist in the ongoing search for the workers trapped inside the tunnel.
Read also | 27 workers trapped in Sikkim tunnel rescued after landslides
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Tamang, took stock of the situation and assured him of all help from the Centre. As announced by the Prime Minister ex gratia $2 lakh for each of the relatives of the deceased $50,000 for each of the infected people.
The Sikkim Legislative Council observed silence for two minutes to mourn the death of workers in the tunnel collapse.
A methane gas explosion is suspected
The accident occurred in Adit 3 of the tunnel – at least 1.5 km from the tunnel entrance – which is part of NHPC Ltd’s 500 MW hydropower project.
A sudden explosion of suspected methane gas trapped inside the rocks led to the explosion, generating dense fumes and toxic gases, NHPC said in a statement.
An NHPC official, who requested anonymity, said: “The explosion was caused by a possible leak of methane gas. The methane gas was likely trapped in a pocket in the rock that was being excavated by a tunnel boring machine. When the machine hit that pocket, the gas leaked out and caused the explosion.”
Rescue operation
Meanwhile, a mining safety team from Eastern Coalfields Limited in West Bengal joined the rescue operation on Tuesday equipped with safety gear and high-quality equipment.
Speaking to reporters, members of the ECL rescue team claimed to have spotted at least eight more bodies inside the tunnel, suggesting that the number may have risen to 20. They added that the tunnel is full of mud, making it difficult to recover the bodies.
“Some of the rescuers who entered the tunnel on Monday fell ill. Later it was discovered that there was carbon monoxide inside the tunnel. This hampered the rescue operations to some extent,” the NHPC official said.
“The presence of carbon monoxide is almost conclusive evidence that a methane gas explosion occurred in the tunnel. The burn injuries sustained by the victims and the presence of carbon monoxide point to the fact that there was methane gas that led to the explosion.”
However, Sikkim Police Inspector General (Law and Order) Tashi Wangyal, confirmed that only 12 deaths have been confirmed in the incident. “As of Tuesday, the death toll reached 12,” the institute said.
