Mizoram stone quarry accident: Eight bodies recovered; four remain missing

Hnahthial district deputy commissioner R Lalremsanga said eight bodies out of 12 persons reportedly missing have been recovered from the debris of the massive landslip till 7am on Tuesday

In a tragic incident, eight persons died while four others remain missing after a stone quarry collapsed in Mizoram’s Hnahthial district, an official said on Tuesday.

The bodies of eight persons were recovered from the debris of a stone quarry. (ANI Image)

The bodies of eight persons were recovered from the debris of a stone quarry.

Hnahthial district deputy commissioner R Lalremsanga said eight bodies out of 12 persons reportedly missing have been recovered from the debris of the massive landslip till 7am on Tuesday.

Search operation will continue till all the missing persons are found, he said.

Lalremsanga, who is also the chairman of district disaster management authority, said the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team comprising of two officers and 13 staff members arrived at the accident site on Tuesday morning.

Of the 12 persons reportedly missing, four were employees of ABCI Infrastructures Pvt Ltd while eight others were contractual employees, he said.

People present at the site said Assam Rifles and Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were also part of the rescue operation.

Earlier, Hnahthial superintendent of police (SP) Vineet Kumar said the tragic incident occurred at around 3pm on Monday at Maudarh village.

13 persons were working when the massive landslide occurred at the stone quarry and one worker managed to escape from the spot, the SP had said.

Lalremsanga said five earth excavators and one each of stone crusher and drilling machine were completely buried under the debris.

He said the area of the landslide is approximately 5,000 square metres.

The stone quarry is owned by the ABCI, which is executing widening of a section of national highway between Hnathial town and Dawn village.