Three bodies pulled out from Singareni mine

Hyderabad, March 9:  After nearly 48 hours, rescue workers on Wednesday retrieved bodies of three men from a mine of Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).

The bodies of safety manager Jayaraj, mine assistant manager Chaitanya Teja and a worker Srikanth were pulled out from the mine at Adriyala Longwall Project mine in Ramagundam of Godavarikhani in Peddapalli district.

They were buried on Monday under a heavy layer of coal which came crashing down from the top of the mine.

A total of six employees were trapped 600 meters deep inside the mine after the roof collapsed. Two of them were rescued the same day.

Another worker Ravinder was rescued on Tuesday evening. The rescue workers of SCCL disaster management wing continued the search operation and on Wednesday found bodies of the remaining three employees.

This was the third fatal mishap in less than four months at Singareni. The workers' unions have called for additional safety measures. Members of the Singareni Coal Mine Workers' Association alleged that negligence by the authorities concerned led to the mishap.

In November last year, the roof of an underground mine in the Srirampur area of Mancherial district had collapsed resulting in the death of four coal mine workers while in December, a dump operator was killed in an open cast project (OCP) in Ramagundam area.