SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Sept 6: The Ranchi NDRF team on Saturday recovered eight bodies from the service van accident that occurred in the open cast mine at Angarpathra Keshalpur colliery of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL), around 20 km from the district headquarters.
On Friday evening, BCCL’s local rescue team had already retrieved three bodies. The NDRF, under the supervision of the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), launched an intensive search operation today and recovered the bodies from a 400-foot-deep ditch in the open cast mine.
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The recovered bodies have been sent to the Central Hospital of BCCL. Their official identification is yet to be confirmed by colliery authorities or the district administration.
The incident took place on Friday morning around 10 am when laborers in a service van belonging to an outsourcing company went to repair a coal vehicle trapped inside the open cast mine.
Suddenly, an overburden (a heap of coal debris) subsided and fell onto the service van, pushing it into the 400-foot-deep ditch.
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Outsourcing company officials have so far remained silent on whether the deceased were their own workers or others. The process of identifying the victims is underway under strict security arrangements.