Jharkhand mine collapse: Several workers feared trapped in Lal Matia colliery

Several workers are feared trapped in a coal mine that collapsed late evening on Thursday in the Lal Matia colliery of Godda district in Jharkhand, reports said.

While initial reports put the number of trapped to be around 10, a CISF official told ANI that around 40-50 workers are suspected to be trapped inside the debris along with some machinery of a private company operating in the coal mine.

The coal mine is owned by Eastern Coalfields, a subsidiary of the government-owned Coal India Limited.

ANI tweeted that rescue operation is underway and that an NDRF team from Patna is already on its way to the site of the accident.

According to The Indian Express, Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das directed the DGP and chief secretary to initiate relief and rescue operations at the earliest. “As of now, there are different versions of how many machines, vehicles and people are trapped. Relief and rescue operations are being initiated,” a police official told the newspaper.

Some of the injured are being treated in a nearby hospital, ANI said.

Mine roof collapses in Dhanbad

In another incident, four workers suffered injuries, two of them seriously, when the roof of a mine partially collapsed at Putki Balihari area in Dhanbad district on Friday, PTI reported. The mine falls under Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited.

A senior district official said the four contractual workers were taking cable to a shaft of the hydro mines in lift when a part of the roof suddenly caved in trapping them.

The four were rescued and taken to a hospital where the condition of two of them was stated to be serious, the official said.

While the cause of the collapse in the Dhanbad mine is being looked into, more details are awaited of the mine collapse in Godda district.

First Published On : Dec 30, 2016 08:53 IST