Coal mine collapses in Chhattisgarh, three dead

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Rescuers on Friday retrieved the bodies of two men who were trapped under the debris after a portion of an abandoned coal mine caved in Chhattisgarh. The death toll has reached to three now. A 17-year-old boy, who was also stuck with them, was pulled out in serious condition on Thursday night and hospitalised.

The incident took place in Korba district in Chhattisgarh on Thursday afternoon after five people had illegally entered a abandoned open cast mine of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) in Dipka area under Hardi Bazar police station limits to extract coal, ANI reported quoting a senior police official.

As per the ANI report, police said that the locals for a long time were burrowing through a part of the mine to steal coal, turning that area into a tunnel. The caved part eventually collapsed and the five persons who had entered the mine got trapped.

Out of the five people trapped, a 17-year old boy managed to come out of the debris, and he also evacuated another man stuck with him under the debris.

Soon after the incident was reported, teams of SECL, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and police reached the spot and launched a rescue operation to trace three others missing.

One of the man rescued on Thursday and was taken to a local medical facility from where he was being shifted to the district hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. While, bodies of two others were recovered on Friday.

SECL's public relations officer Dr Sanish Chandra said the mine has been closed for the last two years and it had only coal seams, which are found within sedimentary rock formations.
Despite SECL management regularly urging locals not to venture inside the abandoned mine, villagers ignore the instructions and go there to collect coal. 'It is a very unfortunate incident,' he added, reported ANI.

(With ANI inputs)