Bhiwani mining: Toll rises to 5, rescue ops on

Chandigarh: The death toll in the landslide at Dadam mine in Bhiwani has gone up to 5 even as the rescue operations by NDRF continue for the third consecutive day. The dead body of a 50-year-old victim from Rohtak was pulled out from under the debris late on Sunday evening. The authorities maintain that as per information available with them this was the last victim to be trapped under the debris, but at the same time maintained that the rescue operations would continue.

"We have collected information about all those who were supposed to be at the accident site. As per our information, there were seven people in the mine. Of these, five dead bodies have been recovered while two have been rescued alive," said Manish Phogat, Sub Divisional Magistrate at Tosham in Bhiwani. Phogat said that the rescue operations would continue till the entire debris is cleared to make sure that no more workers were trapped inside.

Asked how long would the rescue operations last, Phogat said that he could not comment on this, since huge-sized rocks had fallen during the landslide and it could take a bit longer to clear it. Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and MLA from Tosham, Kiran Choudhry today said that though she had raised the issue of "irregularities and corruption" in the mining in her constituency, the government did not pay any heed to it.

Choudhry said that the mishap could have been avoided had the government taken her statements seriously and taken some action. She demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident and suitable compensation for the families of the victims. Dharambir Singh, ruling BJP MP from Bhiwani-Mahendergarh constituency, alleged the violation of several laid down norms for mining at the four sites at Dadam mining zone.