Two workers were killed in an accident in an open cast mine of the state-owned Singareni Collieries Co Ltd in Telangana on Tuesday, police said.

The accident occurred when a bunker collapsed in the mine in Manuguru area of Bhadradri Kothagudem district, about 300 km from Hyderabad.

According to officials, the bunker collapsed when the workers were loading coal on a truck.

The deceased have been identified as Pavan Kumar (31) and Raghupal Reddy (32). Both the victims are residents of the district.

“They died on the spot, and the security officer alerted us,” Kumar Soni, Sub-Inspector of Manuguru Police Station told The News Minute.  

Other workers retrieved the bodies from the rubble. The rear portion of the truck was badly damaged in the incident.

Leaders of workers' unions alleged that negligence by company officials led to the tragedy.

“Wife of Raghupal Reddy filed a case against the company. Following this, a case has been registered under section 174 of Code of Criminal Procedure,” the Sub-Inspector added.

After the post-mortem, the bodies have been handed over to the relatives. The reports are expected to be received by police within a week.

“After that, we will continue the investigations further,” Kumar said.

(With IANS inputs)