A total of 25 bodies were recovered from the tunnel, 11 from Bengal, no one else is trapped, claims Sikkim administration.

Sanchita Chatterjee, BS News Agency: A total of 25 bodies, including 11 from Bengal, were recovered in the tunnel explosion in Sikkim. No one else is trapped inside the tunnel. The Sikkim state administration officially announced the completion of the rescue operation on Thursday. 22 bodies were recovered till Wednesday night. Three more were recovered today. Sikkim police claimed that apart from 11 from West Bengal, four from Jharkhand, two from Jammu and Kashmir, two from Uttarakhand and one each from Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Punjab and Assam were among the dead in the tunnel disaster. Apart from NHPC, workers and officials from two other agencies went to work in the tunnel. Meanwhile, the state government has formed a high-level investigation committee headed by Sikkim Police IG (Law and Order) Tashi Wangyal to find out the cause of the accident. The committee has been asked to submit a report soon. No work will be done in the tunnel until the investigation report is submitted to the Sikkim government. The administration has been asked to confirm the matter. However, the STNM Hospital authorities in Gangtok have already claimed that the autopsy report of a young man from Jalpaiguri named Shyam Oraon (31), who died in the tunnel, has shown that he died of suffocation. In addition, burn marks were found on the deceased's chest and samples of injuries from falling rocks inside the tunnel were also found. The Sikkim police claim that although 25 bodies were recovered, the family members could not identify all of them till this afternoon. Arrangements are being made so that the family members can take the bodies that are being identified home after the autopsy. If the family members cannot identify any body, DNA tests will be done if necessary. The bodies of the 11 people who died in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts have started returning one by one in ambulances since Wednesday night.
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