Death toll climbs to 16 in Lalmatia colliery mishap

With the recovery of five more bodies on Saturday, the death toll climbed to 16 in the coal mine collapse at Lalmatia open cast coal mine of Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), the worst such disaster in over a decade.

R R Mishra, officiating CMD of ECL, a Coal India subsidiary told PTI, "We have recovered five more bodies today. We are carrying on the rescue operation in a systematic manner so that the situation does not aggravate as the debris is too much and it should not fall."

Danger zones have been declared around the place of incidents to restrict the entry of people there. Moreover, the district commissioner has also stationed police and CISF officials to restrict entry of people in the danger zone, Mishra said.

"We have also called experts from outside to help us in the rescue operation. We have fully ensured that the rescue operations are done with proper safety measures. We have also come up with Standard Operating Procedures which would help us in proper operations so that there is no loss of lives," Mishra added.

Heavy machinery was deployed as rescuers, including those from the NDRF, toiled through the day yesterday extricating bodies and looking for survivors.

Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDIL), the consultancy arm of Coal India Ltd, has deployed magneto meters along with an imaging system for locating magnetic and conductive material up to a depth of 80 meters, the statement said.

Mishra said the incident occurred at around 7.30 PM on Thursday when excavators were working there following which rescue operations was launched immediately.

Senior officials of Director General of Mines Safety (DGMS) have arrived at the site and launched an inquiry.

13 excavators and dump trucks which were swamped under the debris have been recovered.