16 die in Orissa mine collapse

Bhubaneswar, November 14: At least 16 people were killed on Friday when an open pit laterite mine caved in at Orissa’s Jajpur district. The toll is likely to rise as many workers are feared buried under the debris. The workers, all in the age group of 20-25, had begun their day’s work in the mine located in Rangatengadia area of Jajpur’s Sukinda block when the incident took place.

Officials said a block of laterite came off due to vibrations caused by a functional earthmover. “The workers had entered the mine at 8.30 am and were about to chip off laterite when the accident happened. They were all working at 25 feet below the ground. Mounds of earth as well as broken laterite fell over them,” said Pratap Patnaik, a local youth, who recovered several bodies from the pit.

The bodies were reportedly so mangled that it would be difficult to identify the victims. “One of the bodies that I recovered was headless. Blood mixed with laterite and earth was a gory sight. I don’t think any of the workers could be alive in the pit,” he said.

Jajpur Superintendent of Police DS Kuttey said the toll is likely to go up as more bodies are feared to be under the debris. “The rescue operation is on,” he said. Officials said the two owners of the mine, Daya Puhan and Munna, have fled the area.

Though there are a few laterite mine pits in the area, Sukinda valley, spread across Dhenkanal and Jajpur districts, is known for its massive chrome ore deposit in the country. It has 97 per cent of India’s reserves and mining is done by the opencast method. Last year, the US-based Blacksmith Institute ranked the valley as the 4th most polluted place in the world. The institute said 12 mines in Sukinda continue to operate without any environmental management plans and over 30 million tonnes of waste rock are spread over the surrounding areas. The mines discharge untreated water into the river.

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