Several dead after Indian mine collapse

INDIA: Several dead workers have been pulled from a coal mine collapse in eastern India and there is "little hope" for the rest of the 53 miners caught underground, officials said Thursday.

Rescuers had not made contact with any of those missing and it was not immediately clear how many dead had been found at the Bhatdih colliery after a suspected gas explosion there late Wednesday, they said.

"Now the rescue teams have found some of the bodies and the operation is still on," said Bila Rajesh, deputy commissioner of Dhanbad district, where the mine is located.

"We are still hopeful, but hopes (for their survival) are very little now." The coal company's chief told an Indian news channel that a rescue attempt had been delayed because of the need to ensure the safety of the team.

"After the explosion the mine was still blocked so naturally we would not like to put our rescue teams in without ventilation," Managing Director Partho Bhattacharya told Times Now television.

Bhattacharya said he did not have "a very clear picture" of the condition of the missing miners and added that an inquiry into the incident was being set up.

A local official for state-run Bharat Coking Coal, which operates the mine in mineral-rich Jharkand state, said that rescue teams were trying two approaches to the underground area.

"The rescue operation is going from two different directions and a dozen rescue units have been pressed into service," said S.B. Chakravorty, estimating that at least 50 people were trapped at the Bhatdih Colliery.

A fire in the mine had now been extinguished but rescuers had not yet managed to reach the trapped miners or make contact with them since the accident occurred, he added.

New Delhi, Thursday, AFP