The death toll in the Sikkim tunnel blast rose to 22 on Wednesday night as the search and rescue operation for the trapped people continued for the third consecutive day on Wednesday.At least three more people are believed to be trapped following a blast inside the under-construction tunnel of NHPC’s hydroelectric project on the Teesta river in south Sikkim’s Namchi district.The incident occurred on Monday afternoon inside a seven-km under-construction tunnel of the Teesta Stage-VI Hydroelectric Project. Those at the site at the time of the incident included high-level personnel from the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and project developer Patel Engineering, who were on a routine inspection.“So far, we have been able to retrieve 22 bodies. If there were 25 people inside the tunnel, then around three are still inside. The rescue operation is going on 24×7,” Namchi district Superintendent of Police, Sonam Doma Bhutia, told The Indian Express over the phone.In a statement, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) said, “Every possible effort is being made to locate and rescue the remaining people at the earliest. The NHPC’s top management is present at the site and closely monitoring and coordinating the rescue operations with all the agencies involved.”Besides police and district administration, personnel from the NDRF, SDRF, NHPC, Patel Engineering Limited (PEL), Eastern Coalfields Limited, and Western Coalfields Limited are involved in the rescue operation.The NHPC also announced that it would pay an ex gratia amount of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased.Story continues below this adOut of those killed in the incident, most of them were residents of the Malbazar area in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal.According to Superintendent (Eastern Coal India) Abhijit Kundu, following the retrieval of the 22 bodies, the rescue team will now explore the other part of the tunnel to find the others believed to be trapped. “We will explore the tunnel fully to find out if anyone else has survived,” said Kundu.“The tunnel is really long. After the first phase of retrieving the bodies, we will explore the whole tunnel. For all this, we will require oxygen support. We are planning it accordingly. One can enter the tunnel only with the breathing apparatus,” said an NDRF official.The tunnel, which is part of the hydroelectric project, was being constructed to transport high-pressure water from the reservoir directly to the powerhouse, which has the turbines and generators.Story continues below this adPolice sources said that during the ongoing excavation work for the tunnel, workers are likely to have inadvertently hit pockets of trapped methane gas within the rock layers. The escaping gas would then build up rapidly inside the enclosed tunnel and ignite, causing an explosion. This then likely led to a cave-in, the sources said.Speaking in the Assembly on Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said Rs 5 lakh compensation will be given to the next of kin of the deceased belonging to the state. “The bodies of the deceased workers are being brought back. Financial assistance will be provided to their families. Although financial compensation cannot replace a loss of life, apart from monetary help, one family member of each deceased worker will be offered a job as a civic volunteer.”PTI adds: Eight bodies have been identified till Wednesday. Of them, four are from Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, while one each from Punjab, Uttarakhand, Assam, and Sikkim.Efforts are on to establish the identity of the remaining bodies.Story continues below this adJharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Wednesday urged his Sikkim counterpart Prem Singh Tamang to ensure all possible support to affected workers from Jharkhand, who were engaged in tunnel construction work in the Himalayan state. At least four workers from Jharkhand’s Khunti, Hazaribag, and West Singhbhum districts were engaged there.