The Hindu : National : Bodies of 46 miners recovered from colliery

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Saturday, Sep 09, 2006

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Bodies of 46 miners recovered from colliery

Special Correspondent

50 were trapped 200 metres underground since Wednesday night

— Photo Ranjeet Kumar

TRAGEDY: Bodies of miners being brought out from the mine at Nagda colliery in Dhanbad district on Friday.

Kolkata: Rescue teams have recovered the bodies of 46 miners from a mine at the Nagda colliery of Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) at Bhatdih in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand. The bodies of four others have been traced.

The 50 miners were trapped 200 metres underground since Wednesday night. Fifty- four miners went down but four escaped with burn injuries after the accident.

Families get bodies

BCCL chairman Partha Bhattacharyya told The Hindu that the bodies were being handed over to the families after autopsy, along with a cheque of Rs. 3.81 lakh.

This includes the ex gratia announced by Union Coal Minister Shibu Soren on Thursday and some immediate payments by the company.

The families are entitled to an amount between Rs. 9 lakh and Rs. 11 lakh, besides pension and a job.

There will be separate provisions for those who had escaped with burns, Coal India Ltd (CIL) chairman Shashi Kumar said.

Counselling team

A team of 12 women officers from BCCL's personnel department and medical services are visiting the family members of the deceased to find out their requirements and counsel them.

The rescue teams comprised personnel from BCCL, Central Coalfields Ltd and Eastern Coalfields Ltd, Mr. Bhattacharyya said.

Clarification

Referring to reports that the miners died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the CIL chairman clarified that even the presence of a global positioning system would not have hastened rescue operations in a mine filled with coal dust, methane and carbon monoxide.

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