Incident occurred when layers of earth and unwanted material were being removed

Eleven persons were killed and more than 50 trapped when an open cast mine caved in on Thursday evening at Rajmahal in Jharkhand’s Godda district.

The cave-in occurred when layers of earth and other unwanted material, referred to as ‘overburden dump’, were being removed.

5 bodies identified

Five bodies have been identified so far and the dead are mainly contract workers from adjoining Bihar.

Officials of the Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) described the subsidence as unprecedented. Several payloaders and dumpers including mining machinery also lie buried.

“Prima facie, it is observed that the incidence is unprecedented, since a 300 m x 110m solid floor of the overburden dump area has slid down by about 35 m, involving around 9.5 million cubic metres of earth material,” ECL officials said.

Teams of the National Disaster Response Force have joined the rescue operations, being supervised by senior ECL and State Government officials.

An inquiry has been ordered by the Director General of Mines Safety and a High Level Committee of Experts has been constituted by Coal India Limited to investigate the accident.

A compensation of ₹ 5 lakh has been announced for the family of the deceased.