BERHAMPUR: Three persons were reportedly killed and four other sustained serious injuries in an explosion at a granite mine along Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border near Gajapati district on Tuesday evening.
The mishap took place at Rajyog granite mines in Gangarajapuram village under Meliaputti mandal of Andhra Pradesh, just 300 metre from Gosani block of Gajapati.
The deceased were identified as Shravan Kumar (45) of Bihar, Hemraj (25) of Rajasthan and Pindu Singh of Madhya Pradesh. The injured are Jana Baliarsingh (42) of Tankiasahi village in R Udayagiri block of Gajapati and K Janardhan (25) of Tekili, K Vala Raju (63) of Meliaputti and B Hari Prasad (24) of Pedalakshmipuram, all in Andhra Pradesh.
Sources said the mishap took place at Rajyog granite mines near Jangalpadu village of Gosani block. Several workers were preparing to carry out a blast at the mines. When it started to rain, they hid the explosives under a boulder and took shelter in a nearby cave. All of a sudden, the explosives went off, killing the three workers on the spot.
Four other workers suffered grievous injuries and were rushed to Tekili hospital. They were later shifted to the government hospital at Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. It is being alleged that the workers were engaged in the mines without any safety gear.
Tekili DSP Laxman Rao said initial investigation revealed that it was a lightning-related incident. However, a detailed probe is underway to ascertain if the mishap occurred due to an explosion at the mines.
