The toll from the stone quarry collapse in Mizoram’s Hnahthial district went up to 11 as one more body was recovered from the site, an official said on Thursday.
Deputy commissioner R Lalremsanga said the body of a 25-year-old man from Lunglei was recovered from the debris around 8:30pm on Wednesday. Twelve people aged between 18 and 49 were trapped inside the quarry when it collapsed.
Lalremsanga said efforts were on to locate the last missing person, who is from Assam.
Workers of ABCI Infrastructures Private Limited and contractors were trapped after the quarry caved at Maudarh village on Monday.
Police said one labourer managed to escape unhurt. Five of those killed were from West Bengal, two each from Jharkhand and Assam, and one each from Tripura and Mizoram.
The bodies of the 11 were sent to their states on Wednesday. Eyewitnesses claimed the workers dug too deep and this resulted in the collapse when a landslide hit.
Lalremsanga said five earth excavators, a stone crusher, and a drilling machine were also buried under the debris.
{{/usCountry}}Lalremsanga said five earth excavators, a stone crusher, and a drilling machine were also buried under the debris.
{{/usCountry}}The National Green Tribunal has registered a case on its own over the collapse and directed authorities to appear before it on November 28. The state police are also probing the incident.
Officials from the Union labour and employment ministry and Mizoram geology and mining department visited the site on Wednesday.