Jharkhand: Plant dump collapses, 10 workers feared trapped

MURI (JHARKHAND): At least 10 people are feared trapped after a mound of residue collapsed at Hindalco’s aluminium plant here, 65km east of Ranchi, on Tuesday afternoon. Spread over 1.5 sq km, the dump contains red mud, a byproduct generated from bauxite during the production of aluminium oxide.

“The mound collapsed after a portion of its wall, made of stone blocks and tied to iron mesh, caved in. About 10 outsourced workers were working at the base of the mound at that time,” a Hindalco official said. “We are yet to confirm if these workers were able to escape to safety,” he added. Locals claimed that more than 60 workers were resting at the base of the mound after lunch.


‘Earthmover and two dumpers buried under mound of sludge’

We think they might have got buried under the debris,” Sanjay Yadav, a local resident, said. SSP (Ranchi) Anish Gupta said, “We have asked the plant authorities for a list of workers who were on duty at the time of the incident. We have also told locals to report anyone missing.”


Government officials said they received news about the collapse of the dump a little after 1.30pm. “We have reports that two dump trucks and an earthmover got buried under the sludge that spilled over right up to the Jamshedpur-Muri railway tracks 300 metres away,” one of them added. Passenger and freight train movement was disrupted for several hours till evening.


National Disaster Response Force personnel were sent to the site from Ranchi and Bokaro. “Our personnel could not carry out searchand-rescue operations because of poor light and the absence of earthmoving vehicles and equipment. We will have to wait until Wednesday morning,” an NDRF official said.


Ranchi deputy commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray said, “We are trying to find how many people have gone missing or are injured.” Chief secretary D K Tiwari ordered an investigation.