Body of SECL official missing since July 27 evening found in water-filled mine sump in Chhattisgarh

Korba: The body of a South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) official who was swept away after rain water flooded a portion of a mine in Chhattisgarh’s Korba district was found on Sunday post a 16-hour search, police said.

SECL assistant manager (mining) Jitendra Nagarkar (41) had gone missing at around 4:30 pm on Saturday at the Kusmunda coal mine, an official said.

Nagarkar and five others, who were present at the mine’s Godawari face, got stuck in the route of water flow into the sump, a huge excavated portion of the mine to collect water that is then pumped onto the surface, the official said.

They tried to come to the mine’s upper side, he said, adding that five managed to do so while Nagarkar got swept away.

“His body was recovered at around 9 am on Sunday from the mine sump by a joint rescue team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) after a 16-hour effort. The body has been sent for post mortem,” said Sanish Chandra, public relations officer of SECL.

Nagarkar hailed from Chandrapur district in neighbouring Maharashtra and had joined the Kusmunda project on transfer from Western Coalfields, Chandra said.