The official says that after taking the opinion of geologists, the operation will start again today.
The official says that after taking the opinion of geologists, the operation will start again today.
Intermittent falling stones affected an operation being carried out by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel to rescue three people trapped inside a 300-feet mine at Adamithippanakulam in Tirunelveli on Monday. A total of six people were trapped after a rock hit them late on Saturday night. Two of them were rescued and the third person died on Sunday.
Even though a 30-member squad from the NDRF’s Arakkonam base reached here on Sunday after an arduous 10-hour journey, they had to wait till morning to start the search and rescue operation after completing all the preparatory preparations in the night. Even as they continued their operations, facing the heat and humidity, small landslides continued to occur intermittently.
However, the personnel continued their efforts which led to the sighting of an earthmover and one of the people trapped under the rubble near a tipper lorry around noon. As they were moving towards it after carefully clearing the debris on it, a huge landslide created panic among the rescue teams, who were asked to come immediately in view of their safety.
“We saw the man’s head, and he remained motionless. Despite the intermittent boulders, we were moving in the hope of getting him out in the next few minutes, but a huge landslide inside the mine forced us to stop work. Forced,” said Sudhakar, assistant commandant of the NDRF team.
He said the team would resume operations on Tuesday after getting the technical opinion of the geologists.
Revenue Secretary Kumar Jayant and District Collector V. Vishnu also reached the mine and were briefed about the challenges being faced by the rescue workers.
A team of local people experienced in operating earthmovers and lorries in the mines offered to help the NDRF personnel. “A landslide of this magnitude is quite expected after a major accident. We have faced this situation during excavation. So, we can continue the operation,” he told the officials, who were skeptical about the dangerous situation and were assisting them in the rescue operation.
Around 5 pm, the operation to rescue the man under the rubble started with some fire and rescue services personnel, which did not yield positive results till 8.45 pm.
The police stationed at the mine had a tough time dealing with representatives of political parties, including Nam Thamizhar Katchi and several different caste organisations, who questioned them about the delay in the rescue operation. Although entry into the mine was restricted by the police, the groups blocked their way to the crash site.