At least 10 labourers were killed, three critically injured and many more feared to be trapped under debris as a coal dump caved in near an opencast mine of the Mahanadi Coalfields limited (MCl) in Sundargarh on Saturday.
According to MCl sources, the incident took place at about 9 am when some people from nearby villages were collecting coal from the overburdened dump at Kulda opencast mine in Basundhara-Garjanbahal area. Some of them were near the giant heap when a portion of it suddenly collapsed.
Soon, an MCl team along with Government agencies and police swung into action to rescue the victims. The dumping yard was in a bad condition and had been declared unsafe and was a prohibited area. A sign board was also displayed near the dump for alerting workers and the passersby not to come near it. However, the people who died there were transporting coals illegally, MCl authorities alleged. “There is no fault of the company in the mishap,” a release of the company clarified.
Police sources said actual figure of the dead, injured and trapped was yet to be ascertained. "It can be known only after the completion of the rescue operation. As the heap is very high, the rescue operation will take time and it may go on till early Sunday morning," said police sources adding that the injured persons had been shifted to Sundargarh district headquarters hospital.
According to locals, the mishap happened due to the illegal smuggling of coal by few coal mafias of the area. Despite the area having been declared a prohibited zone, the smugglers were employing the locals to collect coal by luring them with hefty remuneration.
On the fateful day, about 25 to 30 labourers of nearby area were engaged in the job. Hence, the death toll will go up, he added. He further alleged that though these illegal practices had been going on for years, the MCl authorities, police as well as the district administration had been silent about it.
As the rescue operation was on, the area continued to be tense. To avoid any further eventuality, police personnel were deployed. Besides the locals, the political leaders of different parties and trade union leaders made a beeline near the spot with their supporters.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, expressing his concern and grief over the tragic death, ordered a high level administrative inquiry into the incident by the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Northern).
Patnaik asked the RDC (N) to submit the probe report as soon as possible for necessary action and directed the MCl authorities to expedite the rescue operation, said official sources.
The Chief Minister, who also condoled the death of the victims, announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for each of the deceased’s family.
Similarly, the MCl announced Rs 3 lakh as ex-gratia amount to each victim’s family and pledged to bear the treatment cost of all the injured.
Besides, the MCl management announced Rs 10,000 to meet the expenses of the last rites of each deceased.