Rescue operation underway after a stone quarry collapsed at Mauddh in Hanthiyal district. , Photo Credit: PTI
Bodies of eight out of 12 people trapped in the wreckage of ‘A’ Hill stone quarry collapsed in Mizoram’s Hanathiyal district Has been recovered on November 14,” officials said on November 15.
The search operation was being carried out by a 15-member National Disaster Response Force team apart from paramilitary Assam Rifles and Border Security Force personnel.
District Deputy Commissioner R. Lalremsanga said that of the 12 workers trapped, four were employees of ABCI Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, while the others were engaged by a local contractor.
“The area of the landslide is about 5,000 square metres. Besides the people, five excavators, a stone crusher and a drilling machine were buried under the rubble.
The private firm is executing a project to widen a section of the highway connecting Hanhathiyal town, the district headquarters.
District Superintendent of Police Vineet Kumar said the rescue operation would continue till all the missing people were traced. “13 people were working at the site when the landslide occurred. One worker managed to escape,” he said.
The incident took place around 3 pm in Maudrah, which is about 45 minutes’ drive from Hanahthiyal.
Lalhariatpuia, Additional Secretary, Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Department, Mizoram, said that the use of crude methods of quarrying could have led to the tragedy.
Locals said that the workers had dug too deep to destabilize the stone quarry, resulting in the entire hill collapsing on them.