4 people trapped in Jharkhand mine dig way out

Four people who got trapped in an abandoned coal mine in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district during illegal excavation on Friday dug their way out on Monday morning, police said.

The four people, all residents of Tilatand village in Chandankiyari block, said they kept digging for 20 hours to find a way out of the Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) mine at Parbatpur.

Superintendent of Police Chandan Kumar Jha said that the trapped people, identified as Laxman Rajwar (42), Anadi Singh (45), Ravana Rajwar (46) and Bharat Singh (45), managed to come out of their own around 3.30 AM on Monday.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel were deployed for a rescue operation on Sunday after district administration and BCCL authorities failed to trace them.

Jha said that six people had entered the closed coal mine for illegal excavation on November 26 and they got trapped after a portion of it caved in.

Two people managed to get out as soon as the incident happened but the remaining four could not be traced despite best efforts to locate them.

The SP said that the Parbatpur coal block was under the management of Electrosteel Plant which was acquired by BCCL. However, the administration is silent over whether any legal action will be taken against the four people for being involved in illegal mining.