Fire in WCL coalmine

Nagpur, Feb 28 (UNI) A fire broke out in a reopened mine of Western Coalfields Limited (WCL) today in Chandrapur district of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.

A WCL spokesman told UNI the fire broke out because of 'spontaneous heating' of the coal, which was a common occurrence in mines. The flames had been extinguished in two 'galleries,' but were still raging in four others, and efforts were being made to put them out, the spokesman said.

There had been no loss of life, and the extent of the damage caused by the fire was yet to be ascertained, he said.

The fire was being extinguished by putting soil on it, as water could not be used, he said.

The spokesman said the mine was originally an underground one when it opened in 1905. It was later abandoned after the deposits were extracted. However, it was reopened recently after being converted into an open-cast mine.

''Technically, we have not incurred any loss since the full potential of the mine has been utilised. In fact, we were extracting excess production,'' the spokesman added.

UNI