Manipur: Reports of gas leak near epicentre trigger panic

Three days after a massive 6.8 earthquake struck Manipur, locals from remote Kabui Khullen village reported mug slug and gas seeping through cracks in the epicentre area.

As people from nearby villages in Tamenglong district ran for safety to Noney town, an NDRF team later ruled out danger and said it was hot water bubble coming out of a water body close to the epicentre region.

NDRF sources said a team of rescuers were giving instructions on how to stay safe from earthquake in Noney when news of the gas bubble eruption emerged. But investigations revealed bubbles emerging from a rivulet flowing alongside Kabui Khullen after the earthquake.

Villagers, meanwhile, wanted the state authorities to send an expert team to check the post-quake phenomena.

Meanwhile, one person died and another critically injured when a partially damaged house collapsed as they removed essential items in Leimakhong in Imphal West district. Twenty six-year-old Haoginmang and his 22-year-old cousin Jangminthang tried removing a few essential items Thursday morning from their uncle’s house in Vengnom village near Leimakhong of Imphal East district.   Haoginmang died inside the debris when the building –that had large cracks during the quake— unexpectedly collapsed, while Jangminthang is fighting for his life in an Imphal hospital.