Jaipur:

Fourteen people including senior vigilance officers were trapped after a lift collapsed at the Kolihan mine in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district late last night. Of them, three have been rescued so far from the copper mine of Hindustan Copper Limited. Efforts are on to evacuate the rest eleven still trapped inside.

Doctors at the site suggest all those who were trapped are safe. However, nine ambulances have been kept on standby outside the mine for any emergency.

The lift was carrying a vigilance team from Kolkata as well as mine officials. It is believed to have crashed nearly 2,000 feet inside the mine.

Earlier, an eight-member team comprising doctors and nurses was sent inside the mine through the exit gate to provide first aid to those trapped.

The trapped officials included Chief Vigilance Officer Upendra Pandey, Khetri Copper Complex unit head GD Gupta, and Kolihan mine’s Deputy General Manager AK Sharma. A journalist who had entered the mine as a photographer with the vigilance team was also trapped.

“The rescue team is engaged and the entire administration is on alert. There is no report of any casualties so far; everyone will come out safely,” assured local MLA Dharmpal Gurjar.

The copper mine at Khetri was established in 1967.