Rajasthan: 15 Hindustan Copper Ltd officials trapped in mines; 3 rescued after 12 hrs
A team of 15 officials of the Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) got trapped in Kolihan mine of Rajasthan’s Neem Ka Thana district when a lift collapsed on Tuesday night. Three people have been rescued while rescue operations are on to save the remaining 12 people.
The three rescued people have been identified as AK Sharma, Hans Ram, and Pritam Singh.
The remaining 12 have been identified as Upendra Pandey, Banendu Bhandari, Niranjan Sahoo, GD Gupta, Ramesh Narayan Singh, Vinod Singh Shekhawat, AK Baira, Arnav Bhabdari, Yashraj Meena, Vikas Pareek, Karan Gehlot, and Bhagirath.
“A vigilance team from Kolkata had gone inside the mines for an inspection. The accident took place when they were coming up around 8pm by a lift and one of its chains snapped, causing a major collapse. All15 people got stuck at a depth of nearly 700m,” station house officer of local Khetri police station Bhanwar Lal said.
Police and an NDRF team rushed to the spot to carry out the rescue operation, which has been on for 12 hours now. “The three rescued officials have been sent to Jaipur for treatment,” the SHO said.
The rescue team has supplied emergency medicines and food to the victims. “No casualties have been reported so far. All the emergency preparations, including ambulances, have been stationed for additional support. The rescue team is trying to move the lift manually to rescue the trapped people,” Lal said.
“I had gone to Haryana for the election campaign but when I got this information, I immediately came here. I called everyone and took stock of the entire situation. I have called the SDM here. The rescue team is engaged, and 6-7 ambulances are standing here. The entire administration is on alert. There is no report of any casualty so far, definitely everyone will come out safely,” BJP MLA Dharampal Gurjar, who also reached the spot, told a local news agency.
HCL started the mines in 1972 in the Kolihan area, considered one of the deepest in the state. The inspection was going on in the area since Monday.