Peddapalli: Three coal miners rescued, efforts are on to save others

Peddapalli: Three coal miners trapped in the debris following the roof collapse in Adriyala Longwall Project in RG-III area of SCCL in Ramagiri mandal in the district were rescued and efforts were on to trace out the others.

A badili worker Ravinder was spotted by the mining rescue team on Tuesday and was brought out of the mine. The rescue team members were said to have spotted another person trapped in the debris where they found Ravinder and his identity was not known.

The rescue mission was going on for over 24 hours to rescue the miners since the mine roof collapsed on Monday. The rescue team saved operator Jadi Venkatesh and mining sardhar Pilli Naresh last night. According to SCCL officials, out of seven persons, including two officers and five workers who were at the accident spot, six were trapped under coal debris.

A support man Erukala Veeraiah escaped from the incident with minor injuries and is undergoing treatment at Singareni Area Hospital, Godavarikhani. Efforts were on to rescue Area Safety Officer Jayaraj, Deputy Manager Chaitanya Teja, and contract worker Thota Srikanth. It was said that for the first time in the history of SCCL a safety officer met with an accident.

Meanwhile, former minister and Manthani MLA D Sridhar Babu and ZP Chairman Putta Madhukar visited the coal mine and enquired about the incident. Ramagundam MLA Korukanti Chander consoled the injured miners at the Singareni Area Hospital.

It might be recalled that in last November four coal miners were killed when a portion of roof collapsed at 3a incline underground mine in Srirampur area in Mancherial district and a dumper operator was killed in an OCP in Ramagundam area last December.