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Survivor vows to never work in mine again

Salim Ansari, a survivor of the Bagdigi coal mine disaster, said he would never again work in a colliery. Thirty-two-year-old Ansari told rediff.com at Dhanbad's Central Hospital that his survival had strengthened his belief in Allah.

''Only God helped me come out alive. It simply shows that no disaster can touch you if the Almighty is willing to keep you alive,'' Salim said.

After surviving under more that 150 feet for five days, Salim was brought out by a Bharat Coking Coal Limited rescue team on Thursday morning.

Salim added that he along with three miners was swept away by a powerful water current.

According to him, while his colleagues disappeared, probably succumbing to the flooding, a few drums beneath the colliery prevented him from going further down.

''There was no escape route. I began beating the drums and shouting loudly. All along, I remained seated on the drums. On Thursday, when I saw a member of the rescue team, I mistook him for an alligator. I was horrified, thinking I may not be able to live any longer,'' Salim said.

He confessed that he survived by drinking dirty flood water.

He said two colleagues had gone further down minutes before the water flooded the colliery.

Salim's brother, M Ansari, also attributed his survival to the Almighty. He expressed hope that the remaining miners, believed to be 25, would come out unscathed.

BCCL's outgoing CMD Ashok Mehta denied that his men were attempting a cover-up.

'It the allegation was true, Salim would not have survived,'' he told reporters.

Only one-third of the 12 million gallons of water has been pumped out and the authorities said it would take a few more days before the colliery could be emptied of the flood water.

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