Three air-conditioned emergency rescue vans were flagged off by chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of the Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) PM Prasad at its headquarters here on Friday.

The vans with a sitting capacity of seven persons are equipped with all the necessary apparatus, including a fire extinguisher and gas protector. It has 18 breathing instruments along with two reviving apparatus, an official statement said.

Two vans will be deployed at the Mines Rescue Station in Ramgarh and one at Rescue Rooms-with-Refresher Training Facility in Churi Underground Mines in the North Karanpura area in Chatra district.

Prasad said safety in operations is of utmost priority to the company.

Earlier in the day, Akanksha Kumari was felicitated for becoming the first woman in the country to be trained in mines rescue and recovery work, the statement said.

She is also the first woman mining engineer of Coal India Limited to work in underground mines, it said.

(Inputs from PTI)