Talcher: Two more bodies of coal workers, who were trapped in a coal mine here, have been recovered as the death toll in the incident reached to three, an official of the company said Friday.
The miners got trapped after an accident occurred following a strata collapse Tuesday night at the Bharatpur open-cast mining project in the Talcher Coalfields of state-run Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL). One person is still under the debris and the chances for his survival look bleak indeed. At least nine people have been injured in the incident and are currently undergoing treatment.
The bodies recovered have been identified as those of Rajkishore Mahapatra, a pump operator and supervisor Rashmi Ranjan Behera. The body which was recovered Wednesday was that of Pupun Biswal (driver) of SICAL (contractor firm attached to Talcher coalfields), an MCL statement said.
Rescue operations are still underway on the third day for the fourth person missing after the collapse.
Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced Friday an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5,00,000 each to the next of kin of the deceased in the coal mine accident.
PNN