10 Feared Trapped As Hindalco Plant Sludge Collapses in Jharkhand

The incident that took place 55 km away from Ranchi, left four people injured.

File image of Hindalco plant in Muri, Jharkhand.

(Photo Courtesy: www.hindalco.com)

After a mound of residue collapsed at Hindalco’s aluminium plant in Jharkhand’s Muri on Tuesday, 9 April, at least 10 people are feared trapped, The Times of India reported.

The incident that took place 65 km away from Ranchi, and left four people injured.

The state government has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

“The mound collapsed after a portion of its wall, made of stone blocks and tied to iron mesh, caved in. About 10 outsourced workers were working at the base of the mound at that time,” reported The Times of India, quoting a Hindalco official.

According to The Times of India report, around 60 workers were resting at the base of the mound. The officials also said they are yet to confirm if the workers could escape to safety.

National Disaster Response Force personnel were sent to the site for rescue operation.

“Our personnel could not carry out search-and-rescue operations because of poor light and the absence of earth-moving vehicles and equipment. We will have to wait until Wednesday morning.”

NDRF official told TOI

On the direction of Chief Minister Raghubar Das, Chief Secretary D K Tiwari has asked Chotanagpur Divisional Commissioner Subhra Verma to probe into the incident and submit the report to the government, an official release said.

N N Roy, joint president and head of Muri Works, Hindalco, said in a statement to PTI said, "There was an incident in the red mud (bauxite residue) storage area connected to our plant situated at Muri, Jharkhand today noon. The incident involved a spillage in the red mud cake storage area. We are ascertaining the reasons for the same, and have stopped operations temporarily to assess the situation.

(With inputs from The Times of India and PTI)