The bodies of four workers missing since Thursday following an explosion at a tunnel under construction in Minamiuonuma, Niigata Prefecture, were recovered Sunday morning, local firefighters said.
The explosion, which occurred at around 10:30 a.m. Thursday around 1.2 km from the entrance of the 2.8-km tunnel, also injured three other workers, who were taken to a local hospital, police said.
Since the four dead workers were probably around 1.3 km from the entrance when the blast hit them, firefighters and police immediately launched a rescue operation but were thwarted later in the night after the presence of highly flammable gas was detected.