The incident occurred at the Pandaveswar colliery of the Eastern Coalfields Limited.
Around 45 workers who were trapped in a coal mine in West Bengal for over 12 hours have been rescued.
The workers descended into Pandaveswar Colliery in Burdwan district in the central part of the state for the night shift, after which, officials say, the lift or trolley used by them stopped working because of a problem with the "steam winders".
Officials at the government-run mine said food and water were lowered into the shaft. But workers allege negligence by the management. They claim that the trollies were not being maintained properly.
Niladri Roy, an official of the Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) which runs the mine, said the workers normally come up at 8 am after a 12-hour shift. But this time, they were stuck for four extra hours.
He added that allegations of maintenance problems would be looked into on an urgent basis.