Mine mishap kills one, 18 seriously hurt

“While all 19 workers injured in the explosion were rescued and rushed to hospital within an hour, all of them sustained burn injuries in varying degrees,” Ranjit Dutta, a senior HR official in the Northeastern Coalfilds of CIL told The Indian Express over the telephone from Margherita.

While three of the workers were released after first aid, eight were referred to the Assam Medical College Hospital at Dibrugarh and two to the Indian Oil Corporation Hospital at Digboi. One of the two workers admitted to the IOC Hospital died later in the evening, Dutta said. Six others with lesser injuries are undergoing treatment at the CIL Hospital at Margherita.

The coalfields at Margherita and Ledo had a major accident in 1979 when at least 19 workers were killed while nine miners had died in another mishap at the Tipong mines in 1993.