Four Feared Dead, Nine Coal Miners Injured in Odisha Mine Mishap

Rescue operations are on to find the other four miners who are feared to be trapped.

Nine coal miners were injured and four feared trapped after a dump slide at an opencast mine in Talcher coalfields.

(Photo: ANI)

Nine coal miners were injured and four are feared dead after a dump slide at an opencast mine in Talcher coalfields, an official said on Wednesday, 24 July. One miner’s death has been reported by news agency Reuters.

The coal miners were working at the mine of the Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) when the accident occurred at around 11:30 pm on Tuesday, trapping the 13 workers, an MCL spokesperson said.

A portion of earth broke loose due to a strata failure, he also added

Fellow miners and rescue teams pulled out nine workers from the mine and shifted them to the company's hospital in Talcher, he said.

Rescue operations were on to rescue the other four miners.

Senior MCL officials have rushed to Talcher in Angul district to oversee the rescue operation, he said.

Meanwhile, locals said the accident happened due to a landslide after a controlled blast at the mine.

(With inputs from ANI, Reuters)