Law Kumar Mishra
Patna, February 1
In an early morning incident on Tuesday, 16 workers were found dead in the coal mines at Nirsa and Mugma blocks of Dhanbad in Jharkhand.
Many more are feared trapped inside the mines , Coal companies apprehended. The deceased were from Patlavadi and Mugma localities of Nirsa, 35 kms from district headquarters on Jharkhand-West Bengal borders.
Police used JCB machines to retrieve bodies which were found 20 feet below the open cast mines of Bharat Coking Coal Company Limited and Eastern Coal Fields Limited. Poilice claimed four are admitted in a local hospital.
According to the officials in BCCL, the mines were outsourced to private companies after they were declared non-profitable. It is believed about 100 workers had entered the pits on Tuesday morning and at 7.30 am, it caved in. Many workers managed to escape, but others were trapped inside.
They were not engaged by BCCL or ECL, officials claimed and said they had entered the abandoned mines illegally.
