Many feared trapped as 3 abandoned coal mines collapse in Jharkhand during illegal mining
Dhanbad (PTI): Many people were fear trapped as three abandoned coal mines collapsed during illegal mining in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district, officials said on Tuesday.
The first incident happened at Kapasara outsourcing project of Eastern Coalfield Limited (ECL) in Nirsa police station area around 5 pm on Monday, they said.
The second incident took place in Chach Victoriya of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) in Nirsa on Monday night, while the third incident happened on Tuesday morning at Gopinathpur open cast mines of the ECL in Panchet police station area, they said.
Rescue operations with heavy machinery are underway at the three mines, officials said.
The incidents happened during illegal mining and only the coal companies can specify the number of people trapped inside, said Superintendent of Police (Dhanbad-Rural) Reeshma Ramesan.
"I can't say the number of casualties and injured. We are verifying the details and would say after getting reports. Our teams have rushed there," she said.
Fearing police action, families of the illegal miners are yet to report to the authorities if there was any person missing, officials said.
Villagers also managed to rescue some of those who could come out of the debris, before the colliery officials or police reached the spot, they said.
An official of the ECL said the incident occurred at abandoned mines and so it falls in the purview of the district administration.
"Within our working mines, there is no such information (of collapse). That might be due to illegal activities in abandoned mines but not in our working mines," he said.
"We are not in a position to tell about the number of villagers trapped," he added.
Three people are feared trapped and five persons injured in In the Gopinathpur mine of the ECL, official sources said. In the Kapasara colliery of ECL, three persons are feared trapped and two persons injured, they said.
Several slippers were found at the entrance gates of the mines, indicating many were trapped.
The BCCL, however, said that it will share the details later.
In Chach Victoriya area of BCCL, three persons were feared trapped in debris after the roof collapsed during illegal mining, official sources said.
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Thirty passengers escape after bus falls into ditch, catches fire
Bengaluru (PTI): Thirty passengers had a narrow escape on Friday when a private sleeper bus they were travelling in allegedly veered off the road, fell into a ditch and later caught fire on the outskirts of the city, police said.
The incident occurred near Nelamangala on the Bengaluru-Tumakuru highway, they said.
According to police, the accident was allegedly caused due to the driver's negligence, with the bus first hitting an electric pole before plunging into a ditch.
A suspected short-circuit is said to have triggered the fire. Soon after the accident, all the passengers managed to get out of the bus on their own before the flames spread, a senior police officer said.
However, it is yet to be ascertained whether the driver fell asleep at the wheel, leading to the vehicle hitting the electric pole. The exact cause of the accident is part of the ongoing investigation, he said.
"The Nelamangala traffic police and fire personnel rushed to the spot and doused the blaze. However, the bus was completely gutted," he added.
A case has been registered and further investigation is underway, police said.
