West Bengal: 70 labourers trapped inside coal mine rescued after 15 hours

Around 70 labourers on Sunday were rescued from a coal mine after being trapped in it for more than 15 hours.

"Due to the malfunction of both steam-powered and electric-powered lifts, these workers were trapped. Later we rescued around seventy labourers after we restarted the lift via steam, said an official of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) management.

The labourers, who were trapped in the coal mine, held the officials liable for the accident.

"We were terrified after we saw the lifts were not working. Our families were really worried about us. This happened because of the safety officer. It's all because of the carelessness of the authorities. We came here to work at the coal mine around 11 pm on Saturday and were supposed to work till 7 am on Sunday. We were taken out around 10:30 am, Prem, a labourer said.

"We want the police to arrest the safety officer and interrogate him," he added.

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