India, July 23 -- Asphyxiation and burn injuries could be the reason for the death of the labourers who were working in a tunnel under construction, which collapsed two days ago in Sikkim's Namchi district, indicated the postmortem report of one of the deceased. The body of one more worker was recovered from the NHPC Teesta Stage VI Hydropower Project tunnel on Wednesday during search operations, taking the number of bodies retrieved so far to 13, officials said. Twenty-five workers were inside the tunnel which collapsed following an explosion suspected to have been caused by methane gas shortly after 1 pm on Monday.
"Out of those 25 trapped inside the tunnel, 20 are confirmed dead," Namchi Superintendent of Police (SP) Sonam D Bhutia said on July 21. The postmortem report of one of the victims revealed that asphyxiation was the cause of the death, a medical officer of the STNM Hospital here said. "The asphyxiation could be due to methane gas which spreads quickly and does not give a chance to survive beyond 2-3 minutes," Additional Medical Superintendent (AMS) Dr Suresh Madan Rasaily said. There were some wounds as well as burn injuries on the body, he said. While wounds could have been caused by the rubble of falling debris, the burns might be the result of the explosion. The senior medical officer said that four bodies were brought to STNM Hospital for postmortem and identification.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.