After power outage, 200 workers rescued from mines

Kolkata: 200 workers stranded inside three coal mines in West Bengal have been rescued, after a blackout affecting half the country cut off electricity to elevators in their underground pits.

After power supply was restored, the trapped miners were being brought out slowly through the lifts. Officials say, the miners were safe inside as the natural ventilation through the shaft was enough to keep them alive. Nildari Roy, a senior official at the mines' operator, Eastern Coalfields Limited said, "There is no threat to their lives or any reason to panic."

Half of India's 1.2 billion people were without power on Tuesday as the grids covering a dozen states broke down, the second major blackout in as many days and an embarrassment for the government as it struggles to revive economic growth.

(With Agency inputs)