RANCHI: Trapped in an abandoned coalmine in Bokaro on Friday, four villagers kept digging for over 22 hours to find their way out on Monday morning.
Police said the four managed to come out on their own around 3:30 am from one of the Parbatpur mine of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL). Earlier, Parbatpur Coal Block was under the management of Electrosteel Plant, which the BCCL later acquired.
“Laxman Rajwar, Anadi Singh, Ravana Rajwar and Bharat Singh were stuck for nearly four days following which the district administration and a rescue team of BCCL were roped in, but they did not succeed. The NDRF was deployed on Sunday after the district administration and BCCL authorities failed to trace them. The NDRF team was making all efforts to rescue the four, but somehow they managed to come out safely around 3:30 am on Monday,” said Bokaro SP Chandan Kumar Jha.
Jha said six villagers had entered the abandoned coalmine for illegal excavation on Friday around 1 pm. A portion of the mine caved in, trapping them. Two of them managed to get out as soon as the incident took place, but the remaining four were untraceable despite best efforts to rescue them.
All the four are from Tilatand village in Chandankiyari block. Later, the four villagers said that the absence of any alternative work forced them to take to illegal mining. “First day was horrific as stones were falling from all sides as we watched sitting silently,” said Bharat Singh. “There was a lull the next morning. We waited anxiously for rescuers to arrive, but it was all quiet. Then we decided to clear the debris and make way on our own.”