Trace of no person found at site of Dhanbad mine 'collapse', say officials as search continues

No person has been found so far trapped in the abandoned coal mine in Jharkhand's Dhanbad, officials said on Friday night after a joint team of the NDRF and Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) started a search operation as several leaders claimed that some people were buried by a collapse during illegal mining.

The operation by a 35-member squad of the NDRF and a 15-member BCCL mines' rescue wing began around 11.30 am after a futile attempt to search for the illegal miners late on Thursday evening.

The search operation was started after several leaders claimed that many people died as the abandoned mine at Block 2 in Baghmara had collapsed.

Giridih MP CP Choudhary of the AJSU Party staged a dharna outside the Baghmara police station, demanding immediate rescue operations at the spot.

"Search operation is under progress, and till 9 pm on Friday, no sign of anybody has been found. The MP has pointed out three spots as suspected sites of trapped persons. Search operation has started at one of the spots, and other locations would come under its ambit soon," Baghmara police station's officer in-charge Ajit Kumar said.

According to Choudhury, the incident happened on July 22 evening after the roof of the underground closed mines caved in.

An NDRF officer said the speed of the search operation is slow in the absence of required resources, including earthmovers.

Jamshedpur West MLA Saryu Roy had on Thursday alleged that a large-scale cover-up was underway to conceal at least 15 deaths in the incident, calling it a case of "people being deliberately buried under fresh soil to destroy evidence".

On Wednesday, Choudhary had claimed that at least nine workers lost their lives.

Officials of the Dhanbad district administration, BCCL and police claim that no signs of any such incident have been found so far.

Choudhary said he has submitted a list of five people allegedly trapped there.

Roy accused the BCCL and the police of aiding illegal mining operations and protecting those responsible.

According to him, extortion is rampant in outsourced coal mines, with Rs 1,600 per tonne being illegally charged during coal loading, "under protection from police and political figures".

Roy said he will raise the issue during the upcoming monsoon session of the assembly, and also submit a report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

He also questioned why the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS), based in Dhanbad, never issued closure notices for abandoned BCCL mines, and demanded accountability for the sites that remain unsecured despite recurring illegal mining activities.

An eerie silence prevailed at Taratand area in Giridih, from where four workers have been missing since the alleged mine collapse in Dhanbad.

Villagers claimed Aziz Ansari alias Charku Ansari, 35, a resident of Kundalwadah village, Afzal Ansari alias Khan Sahab, 35, Dilip Sahab, 32, a resident of Ambabeda village, and Jamshed Ansari, 30, a resident of Mathurasingha village, had left for Baghmara and have not returned so far.

"All four used to work in mines. The Dhanbad Police did not allow us to go to the site of the incident," a family member of one of the missing workers claimed.

State BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo said, "There are reports of casualties due to illegal mining in the Baghmara area of Dhanbad. Attempts are being made to suppress this whole accident on a large scale." BCCL's regional nodal security officer Rajiv Ranjan stated that no incident had been reported from the closed underground mine.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)