Talcher coal mines incident: Odisha CM announces Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia

Sambalpur: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased persons in Talcher coal mines incident.

The death toll has reached to three in the incident while a person is still trapped under the debris.

The rescue teams on Friday recovered bodies of two coal workers from the debris of landmass that broke loose after strata collapsed late Tuesday night at Bharatpur open cast mine in Talcher Coalfields of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL).

While body of one Pupun Biswal (driver) of SICAL company (contractor) was recovered on Wednesday, bodies of Rashmi Ranjan Behera (supervisor) and Raj Kishore (Pump Khalasi) were recovered by safety and rescue team of MCL and the NDRF, who are jointly conducting search operation with the help of expert canines.

The rescue operation is underway on the third day today for the fourth person reportedly missing in the mishap.