AIZAWL:18 days after the incident, the body of a 27-year-old Assamese man who went missing after a stone quarry collapsed in south Mizoram's Hnahthial district was discovered, according to an official.
According to Hnahthial Sub-Deputy Commissioner Lalramdintluanga, the body of Jahidur Islam from Assam's Barpeta was recovered from the scene at 5 o'clock.
He claimed that only the upper portion of his body—starting above his waist—was discovered.
Despite recent retreats by other rescue teams from the scene, ABCI Infrastructures Pvt Ltd, for which Islam had previously worked, continued the search, he claimed.
At the time of the incident, Islam was known to be operating an earth-moving machine.
On November 14, a stone quarry near Maudhar village in the vicinity of Hnahthial town collapsed, reportedly trapping a total of 12 people.
Within a week of the tragedy, the bodies of the remaining 11 victims were found among the rubble.
According to officials, of the 12 victims, 5 were from West Bengal, 3 from Assam, 2 from Jharkhand, and one each from Tripura and Mizoram.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had previously announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh to each deceased person's heirs and Rs 50,000 to each person injured.
The stone quarry was leased by ABCI Infrastructures Pvt Ltd at the time of the event, but the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had taken suo-moto cognizance of it and summoned 7 parties involved to appear before the tribunal on November 28.
NGT representatives could not be reached for comment.
A day after the event, the state police also opened a criminal investigation against ABCI at the Hnahthial police station.
Vineet Kumar, the superintendent of police in Hnahthial, stated that the case is being looked into.
The stone quarry collapsed while the employees of the private enterprise in Maudarh, Hnahthial district, were returning from their lunch break, according to sources.
Reports claim that the workers were buried beneath the quarry, along with five Hitachi excavators and other drilling equipment.
For a rescue mission, volunteers from the nearby towns of Hnahthial and Leite arrived right away.
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