Bahrain has offered condolences to India after an under-construction tunnel collapsed in the northeastern state of Sikkim.
The Foreign Ministry yesterday expressed the kingdom’s sincere condolences to the Indian government, people and the families and relatives of the victims.
It wished a speedy recovery to all the injured, and a swift rescue of those trapped.
Authorities in India said earlier in the day that 15 workers were feared trapped after a blast caused by a suspected gas leak in a tunnel at a hydroelectric project in the rugged state killed 10.
Monday’s incident took place at state-owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation 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 included the bodies retrieved.
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