By Tora Agarwala
GUWAHATI, India, July 21 (Reuters) – Fifteen Indian workers were feared trapped on Tuesday after a blast caused by a suspected gas leak in a tunnel at a hydroelectric project in the rugged state of Sikkim killed ten, authorities said.
• Monday’s incident took place at state-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corp Ltd’s project on the Teesta river in the northeastern 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.
(Reporting by Tora Agarwala in Guwahati; Additional reporting by Sethuraman N R; Writing by Shanima Aniyeri; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
