Four Feared Dead in Talcher as MCL Coal Mine Caves In

Talcher: At least four persons are feared killed in the Bharatpur Coal Mines of MCL Talcher today when a large mine caved in. The incident occurred last night when about 14 workers were working in the mine. While ten persons with injuries have been rescued and undergoing treatment, four others are said to be trapped inside the caved coal mine.

The four persons trapped include two workers belonging to a private contractor, one security guard and another person is a driver.

According to district collector Manoj Kumar Mohanty, who is on the spot to assess the rescue iperations, “The incident is so massive that it may take two to three days to bring out the trapped people. The chances of the workers being alive are bleak as it has already passed twelve hours and the massive nature of the slide.”

Mahanadi Coalfields Limited CMD B N Shukla said, “We are taking safety measures so that incidents like this do not happen in future. We have also called the Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS) to probe the incident. If anybody found guilty, we will take stringent action”. A large number of mining vehicles and equipments also got damaged in the incident. While the open cast mine has been shut down temporarily, it will take at least a week to resume operations.