More than 15 Indian workers trapped after hydroelectric tunnel blast kills nine

By Tora Agarwala

GUWAHATI, India, July 21 (Reuters) – More than 15 workers were feared trapped on Tuesday after a blast caused by a suspected gas leak in a tunnel being built for a hydroelectric project in India’s rugged northeastern state of Sikkim that killed nine, officials said.

• Monday’s incident took place at state-owned power firm NHPC’s project on the Teesta river in the village of Samardung, district official Subash Ghimirey told Reuters.

• “The incident was caused by a possible natural gas blast but we cannot say for sure yet,” said state disaster management official Rajiv Roka. “Nine bodies have been recovered – the bodies are charred, so it suggests there was a blast.”

• Survival chances for the rest were slim, he warned, as rescuers hunting for those trapped had difficulty breathing in the tunnel, making the task difficult.

• At least 25 project workers and officials were trapped in the tunnel, the state government said on its Facebook page, citing information from NHPC. This figure includes the nine retrieved bodies.

• An NHPC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

• Rescuers wearing orange hazard suits unloaded oxygen cylinders, ropes and other emergency equipment from a vehicle in photographs on the state government’s Facebook page.

(Reporting by Tora Agarwala in Guwahati; Additional reporting by Sethuraman N R; Writing by Shanima Aniyeri; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)