Three persons including two workers of the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and a contract driver were killed when a high-capacity dumper rammed into a Bolero vehicle on the premises of the Opencast Project-II in Manuguru town on Wednesday.
The deceased were identified as Azmeera Basiya, 48, electrician, Parsa Sagar, 35, general mazdoor, and Velpula Venkanna, 43, hired driver. The trio met with a tragic end while travelling in the hired Bolero vehicle to the worksite in the afternoon.
Sources said that the dumper operator crashed the heavy machine into Bolero vehicle while operating it in reverse direction on rain-soaked slushy premises of the opencast project.
The Bolero vehicle was virtually reduced into a mangled mass of metal as a result of high impact collision. The mutilated bodies of the trio were shifted to the mortuary at the SCCL’s hospital in Manuguru.
The incident sparked off protests as the AITUC and the CPI activists staged a dharna in front of the mortuary late in the afternoon demanding Rs one crore ex-gratia each to the kin of the trio killed in the gory accident at the Manuguru OC-II.
The protesters raised slogans demanding a detailed inquiry into the incident to take stern action against those allegedly responsible for the death of the trio.
Meanwhile, the activists of the Singareni Coal Mines Karmika Sangh led by the BMS senior leader P Madhava Naik consoled the bereaved family members of the deceased at the Singareni hospital premises in Manuguru.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Naik alleged that the ghastly mishap exposed glaring deficiencies in safety aspects.
The SCCL management should focus on improving safety standards in both underground and opencast coal mines, he said, demanding that the company management immediately sanction Rs one crore ex-gratia each to the bereaved families of the deceased.
