India mine collapse body toll rises to 11

The toll from a deadly mine collapse in eastern India’s Jharkhand state rose to 11 yesterday with rescue workers searching for more dead bodies under the rubble. A massive mound of earth caved in late Thursday at the Lalmatia open cast mine, around 240 miles (390 kilometers) from the state capital Ranchi.

“The search operation at the site hasn’t stopped. We can confirm 11 dead and fear that one or two more dead bodies may still be under the rubble,” Jharkhand police spokesman RK Mallick told AFP after rescuers recovered another body, raising the toll from 10. “15 or 16 miners had managed to escape the collapsed mine soon after the incident on Thursday with only minor injuries. The tough terrain of the region (remote forest) and dense fog has been a challenge to the rescue work,” he added.

The rescue workers hope to complete their search operation by yesterday. There was no immediate explanation for the collapse, but the government has launched an investigation into the incident. Jharkhand is one of the richest mineral zones in India, accounting for around 29 percent of the country’s coal deposits. However it is also one of India’s poorest areas and the epicenter of a Maoist insurgency.

India has maintained a relatively safe record in mining-related accidents compared to neighbor China, which on average reports around 1,000 fatalities every year. In 2015, India recorded 38 deaths across 570 mining sites. The last major mining accident in India occurred in 1975, when 372 workers were killed following the flooding of Chasnala mine in Dhanbad. — AFP