Telangana: Four Singareni workers killed in underground mine roof collapse in Mancherial

HYDERABAD: Four workers of Singareni Collieries died after the roof of an underground mine collapsed on them in Mancherial district on Wednesday. The mishap occurred at SRP3 & 3A incline underground mine at Srirampur in Mancherial district and the four workers were buried under a heap of debris.
“The workers were engaged in roof stitching work in the underground mine. Suddenly part of the roof fell at 10.30 am. The collapsed roof was six metres long and three metres wide with a height of two metres,” an official from Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) said.
“The four workers were trapped below it and lost their lives,” the SCCL official said.
While an internal probe was ordered by SCCL chairman and managing director N Sridhar to find out reasons behind the roof collapse, families of miners protested demanding more safety measures for their kin.
The deceased workers were identified as B Laxmaiah (60), V Krishna Reddy (57), G Satyanarayana Raju (32) and R Chandrasekhar (32), all hailing from neighbouring areas.
Witnesses said there were about 21 workers, including miners and the supporting staff in the mine, raising apprehension that more people could be trapped inside the mine.
However, by evening it was clear that all other workers were safe.
“Only four died in the accident. No other workers got trapped in the mine. We were informed that the rest of the workers came out of the mine after the incident. One body has been retrieved and efforts are on to take out the other three bodies,” Jaipur ACP G Narender said.
After learning about the mishap, senior officials of SCCL and police rushed to the spot. Family members of the workers as well as worker's union representatives staged a protest demanding that the SCCL authorities must step up safety measures to ensure that such mishaps don’t recur.
SCCL authorities pacified the protesters assuring that one member of the deceased employee's family will be provided a job at the place of their choice and will also be given a compensation between Rs 70 lakh and Rs 1 crore.