AIZAWL: Mamit district in west Mizoram witnessed a tragic incident as a stone quarry collapse left at least three people feared dead.
The calamity unfolded around 1 pm in the Pukzing area on December 20, where workers, including the three victims, were engaged in their tasks.
The victims, identified as two excavator operators and a helper, all hailing from outside the state, found themselves trapped under the debris as the quarry crumbled.
The identities of the victims remain unknown at this time, according to local authorities.
The workers were engrossed in their duties when the tragedy struck, and debris from the collapsing quarry fell upon them.
Immediate action was taken by district and disaster management authorities, who launched a rescue operation supervised by senior officials.
The operation is currently ongoing in a race against time to save those trapped beneath the rubble.
This grim event follows a similar catastrophe that transpired on November 14 last year in the Hnahthial district, where 12 lives were lost in a stone quarry accident at the Maudhar area.
Originally believed to involve 12-15 workers, it was later revealed that 20 individuals from Bihar and Jharkhand were on-site.
They were employed by ABCI Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, a company working under the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), responsible for constructing a two-lane highway in Mizoram.
Official sources had confirmed that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had registered a suo-moto case in response to the stone quarry collapse, leading to an order for compensation amounting to Rs 2.4 crore for the victims.
