The toll due to a blast in a tunnel that was being constructed in Sikkim’s Namchi district has increased to 25after rescue teams recovered three bodies on Thursday, bringing a four-day search and recovery operation to an end.
The tunnel was part of the Teesta Stage VI Hydroelectric Project of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation in the Samardung area. It was being constructed to transport high-pressure water from the reservoir to the powerhouse.
The tunnel collapsed on Monday after a “sudden explosion of trapped or embedded suspected methane gas within the rocks, resulting in dense smoke and toxic gases”, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation had said.
Twenty-seven persons were trapped inside the tunnel, of whom two managed to come out safely, Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang said.
On Thursday, three bodies were recovered after which rescue teams conducted a “comprehensive inspection” of the tunnel and confirmed that no workers remained trapped inside after reconciling records of those reported missing, the district authorities said.
The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation has said that it will provide an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of those who died.
Chief Minister Tamang had on Wednesday announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for the families of the dead and Rs 50,000 for injured persons.
Personnel from multiple agencies, including the National...
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