Peddapalli: Two successive caving in of roof in a coal mine claimed the life of a young Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) employee, Rapolu Naveen (26), who was buried under a pile of coal at Vekeelpalle (9 Incline) coal mine, Ramagundam-II area, on Thursday afternoon.
An overman, Naveeen, along with some other workers, was engaged in work at 66th level junction, 41st deep, third seam of top north tail-end. While Naveen was repairing a telephone wire, the roof suddenly caved in with a loud sound at around 5 pm. Naveen, who reportedly sustained minor injuries in the incident, shouted for help. Within a few seconds, the bigger portion of the roof again caved in, silencing the young miner, a SCCL employee said.
LHD vehicle operator, K Sathish, who escaped with minor injuries, said he reached the spot just a few seconds before the incident to dump coal on the belt after lifting it from a bucket. He was trapped in the vehicle cabin as a portion of the roof fell on it. He did not receive major injuries as the vehicle has a strong cabin roof. When he jumped out of the cabin, a huge portion of the roof again caved in.
Naveen was repairing a telephone line when the roof fell on him, said Parupelli Vamshi, another miner said. The overman asked him to bring another worker to the bucket pump. While he was returning to the spot, the roof suddenly caved in with a loud sound. He was pushed away by the sudden gush of wind, he said.
A mining diploma graduate, Naveen got selected for JMT (junior mining trainee) job through direct recruitment in 2013. Later, he was promoted as an overman.
A native of Kachapur of Julapalli mandal, Naveen got married to his girlfriend just two months ago.
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