Chandrapur (Maharashtra), Sep 17: Two miners, including a project manager, were killed and three others injured in an explosion at opencast mine of Western Coalfields Limited in Chandrapur district of east Maharashtra on Sunday, a top executive said.
“The explosion took place at around 11:30 AM at the Hindustan Lalpeth Opencast Mines (HLOM) when Shovel Operator R A Bajpai was carrying out excavation in an area where temperature was high due to burning coal deposit underneath,” WCL Chief General Manager (Chandrapur Area) T N Jha told reporters.
“The explosion triggered a landslide and a huge boulder came crashing down on Bajpai and project manager A K Verma who were standing nearby,” he said.
One of the workers, who witnessed the incident, said on condition of anonymity that the blast took place due to release of Carbon Monoxide gas and Bajpai got crushed under the burning debris following the explosion.
Verma succumbed to his injuries when he was being shifted to Nagpur, he said.
The other workers injured in the accident are Dumper Operator Kamal Singh and Poclain Operators Arif Sheikh and R A Hewade who are admitted in a Nagpur hospital.
Meanwhile, terming the incident as “unfortunate”, Jha said, “the work at HLOM site has been stopped after the mishap and shall resume only after clearance and orders from Director General of Mines Safety who has already been apprised of the incident.”
