At least eight people were killed, and 19 are feared trapped after landslides hit an under-construction tunnel of the Teesta hydroelectric project amid heavy rain at Samardung in Sikkim’s Namchi district.
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“We have recovered eight bodies and 19 persons are still feared to have been trapped inside the tunnel. Rescue operations continued throughout the [Monday] night, and the bodies could be recovered only in the early hours [of Tuesday]. As it is still raining, the rescue operations are being hampered,” said police superintendent Sonam Doma Bhutia. He added three rescue attempts initially failed mainly because of bad weather and terrain conditions.
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Rescue operation continues
Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang-Golay said teams from the district administration, police, State Disaster Response Force, Fire and Emergency Services, and National Disaster Response Force, and other specialised agencies are working at the site. He added he was closely monitoring the rescue operations.
People aware of the matter said the workers were trapped at least three kilometers inside the tunnel and rescue operations were continuing despite rain and inclement weather.
Workers trapped inside tunnel
On Monday, district collector Anupa Tamling said nothing certain is known about the condition of the workers trapped inside. “Three back-to-back rescue attempts have failed.”
Tamling said 19 workers from a private company and six from the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) were at the site when the landslides hit. Of the three workers who first went to rescue them, two could not come out. The tunnel is a part of the NHPC’s Teesta Stage VI hydroelectric power project.
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The Sikkim government on Monday said all 16 people trapped in the tunnel had been rescued, even as more people were at the site. Tamling said this was a result of a miscommunication between departments.
At least 27 people working inside the under-construction tunnel at Samardung in Namchi district were trapped on Monday when the site was hit by landslides, Sikkim government officials had said late in the evening. At least 16 workers managed to come out alive after the accident, officials added.
Chief minister expresses condolences
Prem Singh Tamang-Golay, chief minister of Sikkim, expressed his condolences while adding that he was closely monitoring the rescue operations on Tuesday morning.
“I am deeply saddened by the tragic incident at the under-construction tunnel of the NHPC Teesta Stage VI Hydroelectric Project at Samardung, Jholungey, in Namchi District. My heartfelt condolences go to the families of the workers who have lost their lives,” he wrote.
“I am closely monitoring the ongoing rescue operations. Teams from the District Administration, SSDMA, Sikkim Police, SDRF, Fire & Emergency Services, Pakyong and Siliguri NDRF, and other specialized agencies are working tirelessly to evacuate the bodies of the remaining workers trapped inside the tunnel,” Golay wrote in Facebook.
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According to Sikkim government officials, the tunnel is a part of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation’s (NHPC) Teesta Stage VI hydroelectric power project.
Tamling said according to reports received by the district administration, 19 workers of a private company, Patel Engineering LTD, and six workers of the NHPC were at the site hit by the landslide.
