Two workers die after wall of opencast coal mine collapses in Jharkhand
The accident took place around 11 pm on Saturday in the command area of Central Coalfield Limited (CCL) under Urimari Police Station limits when the high wall of the mine collapsed on the coal loading vehicle, a senior official said.
Barkagaon sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Pawan Kumar said both bodies were recovered from the debris during the operation on Sunday.
Experts said that the high wall in mining is the exposed face of the overload and coal in the mine, and the stability of this wall is important for the safety of miners and equipment.
SDPO said that the coal workers who were in the truck at the time of the accident and died were Sunil Yadav (30) and Raju Paswan (50).
“The bodies were sent for autopsy. Another person was rescued from the accident scene and taken to the hospital here.”
SDPO said the debris could not be cleared on Saturday night due to darkness, fog and a protest by coal workers there. Another police officer said Yadav was working as a dumper operator while Paswan was employed as a sweeper by the outsourcing company.
Workers working in the open pit stopped their coal mining activities after the accident on Saturday night.
Claiming that the accident occurred due to lack of safety precautions, they demanded compensation for the families of the deceased.
The officer added that two pieces of mining equipment were also buried under the debris after the high wall collapsed.
