Bokaro: The four people who were trapped inside the abandoned coal mine after subsidence on Friday afternoon came out safely on Monday early morning after three days. The incident took place in a closed mine of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), Parbatpur Block under Chandankyari, about 30 kilometers from the district headquarter. The survivors emerged from the mine digging another way out.
Local residents claimed they had miraculously escaped with the blessing of Goddess Kali and offered puja in the temple of their village upon reaching Tilataad. For three days, Laxman Rajwar, Ravana Rajwar, Anadi Singh, and Bharat Singh to survive drank water seeping into the mine.
DC, Bokaro, Kuldeep Choudhary said, “even though we pressed NDRF, BCCL rescue teams, the individuals trapped made their way out by making path from other points in the morning. A health checkup was conducted”.
SP, Bokaro, Chandan Kumar Jha, however, said, “We have asked BCCL to shut down its abandoned mines in the area to avoid occurrence of such mishaps in the future. “The trapped persons emerged from the mine at 3 a.m.” MLA, Chandankyari, Amar Bauri reached the spot and met the survivors while the village Tilataad wore a festive look as people gathered in large numbers.
According to Bharat, one of the survivors, on Friday at 9:00 am, they went inside the coal mine to excavate coal. “Suddenly at one o’clock a large portion of the mine collapsed, blocking the way to the outside. We waited for help until the evening. However, there were no sounds from outside”.
He added, “We spent the night with a small amount of water we carried with us. Later, we tried to clear the way. Despite a lot of hard work, the blocked path of the tunnel was not cleared. Then we realised that it was heavy subsidence and impossible to remove it. It would be better to find another way. After this we made an alternate path, digging the way for more than 20 hours continuously one by one and came out”.
