Rescuers struggle to trace missing mine workers

RAIPUR - Rescuers have failed to establish any contact with six workers who have been missing since a blast occurred in an underground coal mine in Chhattisgarh’s Koriya district, officials said Friday.

At least four people were killed and 32 injured in the accident which occurred when workers were trying to fix a Carbon Monoxide leak inside the mine. The Anjali Hill mine, over 400 km north of capital Raipur, is owned by the South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL), the largest profit-making subsidiary of the public sector Coal India Limited.

“Rescuers have failed to access the six missing workers so far, so we have now called in experts from other states to step up the rescue effort,” sources at SECL, headquartered in Bilaspur town, told IANS.

The blast has raised serious questions about SECL’s coalmine safety measures as sources say that early this week a team had declared the mine ’safe’ despite a continuous Carbon Monoxide leak as well as a major fire in a portion of the mine.

The blast has also caused a major revenue loss for SECL as production has been stalled and officials are not sure when it will resume.

“It’s a major coalmine with a daily output of some 800-900 tonnes of superior grade coal. It’s difficult to comment when production will resume,” SECL spokesperson Alok Sinha told IANS.