Three workers, two of them women, sustained injuries following an explosion at the Chirmiri open-cast coal mine in Chhattisgarh’s Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district on Monday. The incident occurred during the preparation phase for a blasting operation, as a team of workers was laying explosives. Officials confirmed that the blast happened suddenly, sending debris scattering and striking the workers and nearby machinery.
The injured were swiftly attended to and taken to the SECL regional hospital at Kurasia, where their conditions have been described as stable. They are being treated for minor injuries and are expected to recover fully and be discharged soon. The mining operation in the immediate vicinity was temporarily halted following the incident.
While a technical error is the suspected cause of the unexpected detonation, South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) has initiated a comprehensive investigation. This probe aims to pinpoint the precise reason for the blast, evaluating potential contributing factors such as equipment defects, operational oversights, or human mistakes. Safety measures are being re-evaluated to prevent similar occurrences in the future.