Six killed, 3 injured in Bengal coal mine blast
The incident took place when a truck with a detonator came to the Gangaramchak Mining Private Limited colliery for unloading, police said.
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Charred remains of a vehicle parked at a coal mine where a blast occured, at Bhadulia in Birbhum district, West Bengal, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (Screengrab/ PTI videos)At least six people were killed and three others injured when explosives kept in a truck went off at a coal mine in Birbhum district of West Bengal on Monday, a police officer said.
The incident took place at 10.30 am in the dump yard of a coal block belonging to Gangaramchak Mining Private Limited colliery in Lokpur.
“The explosion took place when detonators were being transported for planned blasts at Gangaramchak and Gangaramchak-Bhadulia coal mines,” an official of West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL) said.
The incident occurred in the dump yard of the coal block, West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd Chairman and Managing Director P B Salim said.
Confirming the number of deaths to six, Additional Superintendent of Police (Birbhum) Rana Mukherjee said efforts are on to identify the accused.
Police sources said investigations are underway to find out the cause for the blast — and whether the company’s mining activities were authorised.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said the family of each of the deceased would receive a compensation of `32 lakh — `30 lakh to be provided by the agency operating the mine and `2 lakh by the state government.
“Today, there was a very sad incident that happened in Birbhum. There was an explosion in which six people were killed and three injured. The bodies of six persons were recovered. Of the three injured, the condition of one is serious, while the other two are out of danger,” the chief secretary said.
Pant said that each of the families of the deceased would be compensated with `30 lakh according to the rules of the mine developer and operator (MDO) and WBPDCL. An MDO runs operations at the captive block.
The state government would pay the family of each deceased a compensation of `2 lakh as it does in case of such accidental deaths, Pant further said.
One member each from the deceased people’s family would also be offered the job of a home guard, the chief secretary added.
Local BJP MLA Anup Saha, who visited the spot, said, “The explosive materials were unloaded from a truck without proper precautions.” The detonator van was gutted in the explosion.
The WBPDCL, a company owned by the West Bengal government, has five power plants and its installed capacity stands at 4,265 MW. In the current fiscal, an additional 660 MW thermal capacity is expected to be added.
— With PTI inputs
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