Jharkhand mine collapse: 6 Dead, 40-50 workers trapped

At least 6 workers are confirmed dead and over 40 of them along with some machineries belonging to a private coal mining company Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) are believed to be trapped after a heap of mud caved-in at the entry point of Latmatia mines in Godda district of Jharkhand, a CISF official said on Friday. According to initial reports, the on duty CISF sentry is safe but at the time of the cave-in at the Rajmahal Open Cast Mines of Paharia Bhorya site, more than 40 vehicles were inside.Rescue operation could not begin due to night fog, a police official said.The locals said that there was crack in the heap of mud which collapsed and blocked the entry point of the mine.Mining operations were taking place about 200 feet beneath the ground.The operation to rescue the trapped workers will begin soon but the electric supply to the region has been disrupted, the official added.A separate team of NDRF personnels have been dispatched from Patna along with additional manpower comprising of one government official, 2 inspectors, 21 CISF from Eastern Coal Field Limited, Sheetalpur, news agency ANI said.The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team was likely to reach the spot by noon, officials said."The exact number of people and vehicle trapped inside is not known. This could only become clear after the rescue operation starts," said Harilal Chauhan, Godda Superintendent of Police told IANS.On Thursday, 4 workers suffered injuries, two of them seriously, when the roof of a mine partially collapsed at Putki Balihari area in Dhanbad district.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.The two seriously injured were now under treatment at Central Hospital, Dhanbad while the other two were being treated at a local hospital in the neighbourhood of the mines and were out of danger, the official added.The cause of the collapse was being looked into, the official said.Reacting to news, Jharkhand Chief minister M Raghubar Das said he was monitoring the situation closely and has asked concerned officials to intensify rescue operations.Taking stock of the situation, Union Power and coal minister Piyush Goyal said that rescue efforts underway and an enquiry has been initiated.However, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Chairman cum Managing Director of ECL & WCL told ANI that the rescue operations started on Thursday and is in full swing.