ADILABAD: Two workers fell ill after a poisonous gas leak was reported in the SRP-3 underground coal mine of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in Srirampur on Thursday. The duo — driver E Ravi and operator Rajinikanth — suffered from suffocation and was immediately shifted to the Singareni Area Hospital in Ramakrishnapur in Mancherial district. Sources said as many as 11 workers were present in the mine when the incident occurred.
It was Ravi who noticed the gas leak first and immediately alerted Rajinikanth and other workers. While Ravi and Rajinikanth were shifted to the hospital, a rescue team moved all other workers to safety.
Meanwhile, the management suspended the second shift in which 220 miners were scheduled to enter the mine. It also suspended the night shift works. Union leaders blamed the management for the mishap. “It is the responsibility of the management to check all safety aspects before the workers enter the mine. The management has failed in this regard,” they said.