10 miners killed in coal mine mishap in eastern India
Ten miners were killed and some others feared trapped following a cave-in at the Lalmatia opencast coal mine in the Rajamahal area of Eastern Coalfields Ltd last night.
After almost 24 hours of the cave-in, the bodies of 10 miners have been recovered so far this evening at the colliery in Godda district of Jharkhand.
The colliery belongs to the Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), the largest subsidiary of the CIL. Those on duty during the second shift between 7 pm and 8 pm yesterday evening were trapped. Due to dense fog and cold, rescue operations started from 5 am today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed deep concern over the incident. The PM tweeted : "Saddened by the loss of lives at a mine in Jharkhand, my prayers are with those trapped inside.
" Talking to The Statesman today, Mr Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Chairman cum Managing Director of WCL and acting CMD of ECL, said that he reached Rajamahal today from Nagpur. "So far we have been able to recover the bodies of 10 coal miners and three excavators and seven dumpers (steepers) trapped under coal chunks,"he added.
Mr Mishra said CIL has set up a committee to probe the disaster. "Prima facie, it seems that the hard rock strata loosened and the fresh 'over burden' fell like landslides. Since morning today rescue work started," Mr Mishra added. The Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS) will also conduct a separate inquiry.
Already three teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have arrived from Patna and another team has rushed from Ranchi. Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das has announced Rs 2 lakh as compensation for the families of the victims who have been killed and Rs 25,000 for the injured.
Union minister of coal and power Piyush Goyal has tweeted that the ex gratia for the victims' families from CIL has been enhanced to Rs 5 lakh each.
