Sikkim NHPC tunnel collapse: 22 bodies recovered, search on for 3 trapped
The death toll in the NHPC tunnel collapse in Sikkim's Namchi district rose to 22 on Wednesday, with rescue teams continuing a round-the-clock operation to
The death toll in the NHPC tunnel collapse in Sikkim's Namchi district rose to 22 on Wednesday, with rescue teams continuing a round-the-clock operation to locate at least three more people believed to be trapped inside the under-construction tunnel. The incident occurred on Monday inside the seven-km-long head race tunnel (HRT) of the Teesta Stage-VI Hydroelectric Project, when a pocket of methane gas trapped in the rock strata reportedly burst, triggering an explosion that generated intense heat, flames and toxic fumes. "So far, we have been able to retrieve 22 bodies.
If there were 25 people inside the tunnel, then around three are still inside. The rescue operation is going on 24x7," Namchi Superintendent of Police Sonam Doma Bhutia told The Indian Express. Rescue operation still underway In a statement, NHPC said every effort was being made to locate and evacuate the remaining personnel at the earliest. The corporation said its top management was present at the site and was closely coordinating rescue operations with all agencies involved. Personnel from the Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Sikkim Police, Army, district administration, NHPC, Patel Engineering Ltd, Eastern Coalfields Ltd and Western Coalfields Ltd are participating in the rescue operation.
Rescuers said the operation remains challenging as large sections of the tunnel are inundated with mud and water, while toxic fumes have forced teams to use breathing apparatus inside the tunnel. "We are trying to retrieve the visible bodies. At this stage, we do not know how many more are trapped deeper inside. Our priority is recovering the bodies we can see, but accumulated water makes movement very difficult," Abhijit Kundu, Superintendent, Eastern Coalfields Ltd, told the Indian Express. NHPC announces ex gratia An NDRF official said that after completing the current phase of recovery, teams would explore the remaining sections of the seven-km tunnel to determine whether anyone else was trapped.
The NHPC has announced an ex gratia of ₹5 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased. According to officials, many of those killed were residents of Malbazar in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district.
The BriefWire