Chhattisgarh silo crash: Bodies of three workers recovered; toll rises to 4

The bodies of three workers were recovered on Saturday from the debris of a collapsed iron silo at a smelting plant in Chhattisgarh's Mungeli district after a 42-hour operation, taking the death toll to four, officials said.

On Thursday, a labourer was killed and another injured after the fly ash storage structure weighing over 350 tonnes crashed at Kusum Smelters Private Limited, located near Rambod village in Sargaon police station area of Mungeli district.

Rescue teams of multiple agencies, involving over 400 personnel, launched an operation after receiving information that some workers were trapped under the rubble, officials said.

"The search and rescue operation involving machines, cranes and gas cutters began on Thursday afternoon," Mungeli Superintendent of Police Bhojram Patel told PTI.

He said moving the massive structure containing fly ash was an arduous task.

"During the 42-hour-long rescue operation, the iron structure was shifted and fly ash removed, leading to the recovery of three bodies on Saturday morning," Patel said.

The three deceased workers were identified as Jayant Sahu (35), a resident of Bilaspur district, Prakash Yadav (20) of Balodabazar district, and Awdhesh Kashyap (32) of Janjgir-Champa district, he said.

The labourer who was killed on Thursday was identified as Manoj Kumar Dhritlahre (35).

The rescue teams involved personnel belonging to the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police, district administration, industrial safety, health and other agencies.

An FIR was lodged on Friday against the plant incharge Amit Kedia, manager Anil Prasad, and the plant management on charges of causing death by negligence, Patel said.

They were booked under sections 106 (A) (causing death by negligence), 289 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery) and 3(5) (common intention) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), he said.

The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident was underway, the police officer said.