Rescue teams in India faced a dangerous setback Wednesday as toxic gas prevented them from reaching 13 workers still trapped inside a collapsed hydropower tunnel — two days after a deadly gas explosion claimed the lives of 12 other workers at the same site.
The disaster began Monday when a buildup of methane gas triggered a powerful blast inside a tunnel at the 500-megawatt Teesta Hydroelectric Project, located in the northeastern Himalayan state of Sikkim. The bodies of the 12 workers who perished have since been recovered from the tunnel, which sits approximately 40 kilometers — about 25 miles — south of the state capital, Gangtok.
Despite being outfitted with specialized breathing apparatus and night-vision equipment, rescue crews have been unable to push through to the trapped workers. Administrative official Anupama Tamling explained that a combination of lingering gas and accumulated water inside the tunnel has made entry extremely difficult.
Experts note that the Teesta River basin, where the hydropower project is under construction, sits in a seismically active zone characterized by young, unstable rock formations. These formations are riddled with cracks and underground cavities that can harbor ancient pockets of trapped gas — making tunnel construction in the area particularly hazardous.
This latest tragedy is not an isolated incident in the region. A February explosion at a coal mine in the neighboring state of Meghalaya took the lives of 18 workers. In 2023, a tunnel section gave way in the northern state of Uttarakhand, leaving 41 workers trapped underground for 17 days before a successful rescue was completed.
