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Four construction workers remained trapped inside a mountain road tunnel Friday a day after an explosion at the site which has hampered rescue efforts, police said.
Firefighters worked through the night Thursday to try and reach the spot where four missing workers are believed to be after a gas explosion in a tunnel in Niigata Prefecture earlier in the day. Firefighters said dense flammable gas were hampering their rescue effort, with visibility only one meter inside the tunnel.
Police said the explosion occurred at 10:30 a.m. about 1,200 meters into the 2,840-meter-long Hakkatoge tunnel being constructed to link Tokamachi and Minamiuonuma, Fuji TV reported. Three workers, who were 150 meters from the tunnel entrance, suffered injuries in the blast which threw rocks and concrete out of the tunnel.
There has been no word about the state of the four workers since the explosion, police said.
"We have yet to identify the gas and decide when we can resume the search and rescue operation," Tatsuo Nishino, chief of Minamiuonuma's fire department, told a televised news conference on Friday.
"We want to do everything possible to lower the density of gas (inside)," he added.
Rescuers are trying to draw out the flammable gas with an air tube placed inside the tunnel.
Construction of the tunnel has been delayed for several months and geologists believe natural gas has been building up inside the tunnel.
© AFP/Japan Today
7 Comments
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Dennis Bauer
I saw the devastation this morning on tv, stuff was shot out of the tunnel like a cannon, i hope they are still alive , but seeing the damage :O
some14some
foregone.
nath
why no gas monitor?
Harry_Gatto
Good question, assuming there wasn't any monitoring talking place, I have not seen it mentioned.
Pumping the gas out using a tube or pumping air in with an "air tube" to drive out the gas?
KariHaruka
Seeing the devastation on NHK this morning. I'd be very surprised if these poor souls are still alive. If the blast didn't kill them are they wearing suitable gear for breathing?
JohnBecker
It would be surprising if there was no monitoring equipment. As many tunnels as there are in Japan, they have to have a pretty refined methodology.
flpat1
'hope all four of them get out alive.