LALMATIA: The death toll in the coal mine collapse at Lalmatia open cast coal mine of Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), Jharkhand rose to 18 on Sunday.
The incident occurred on Thursday when a massive mound of earth came crashing down on excavators.
The Jharkhand Government has announced an ex-gratia of two lakh rupees each to the next kin of those killed and 25 thousand rupees for the injured.
An inquiry has also been ordered in the incident by the Director General of Mines Safety and a High-Level Committee of Experts has been constituted by Coal India Limited to investigate into the causes of the accident.