Three more bodies were pulled from the rubble of a collapsed stone quarry in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district, raising the death toll to four, an official said on Monday. According to District Magistrate Sonbhadra BN Singh, the recovery took place on the night of Sunday to Monday. Meanwhile, Samajwadi MP Chotelal Kharwar for Robertsganj alleged that the mine was being operated illegally by the mafia in connivance with the local police.
“One body was found in the night. The deceased was identified as Indrajit (30), a resident of Panari, Obra. The other two bodies were not identified and we are trying to identify them,” Singh said.
Uttar Pradesh state minister and local MLA Sanjeev Kumar Gond, who visited the site in the Billi Markundi mining area after the collapse on Saturday evening, said: “About a dozen workers may be trapped under the debris”.
Varanasi Zone ADG Piyush Mordia said on Sunday that debris removal is slow as many large boulders are obstructing clearance. Sonbhadra SP Abhishek Verma had earlier said that they received information about the collapse at around 4.30 pm on Saturday at the Obra police station.
According to the caller, several workers were trapped under the rubble after part of the quarry operated by Krishna Mining Works gave way.
Police arrested the owner of Krishna Mining Works and his business partners Madhusudan Singh and Dilip Keshari, both residents of Obra, following a complaint by Chhot Yadav, a resident of Parsoi Tola, who said his two brothers were trapped under the debris, the SP said.
The three are yet to be arrested.
Gond visited the site along with district officials. Noting that the exact number of trapped workers remains uncertain, Gond added: “The district magistrate, superintendent of police and other officials are on the spot and rescue operations are underway. I am also present here and we are making all possible efforts.”
Commenting on the incident, the minister said, “The circumstances under which the mine operated will be investigated. Strict action will be taken against those found guilty. We stand with the families of the victims.” Gond further said that ex-gratia compensation would be provided to those affected. “It’s a very sad event,” he said.
“Every month there are one or two such incidents in this area.”
Kharwar mentioned, “It is possible that 12 to 15 people are trapped under the rocks. Natives are being killed in many ways and there is extensive illegal mining in this area. Every month there are one or two such incidents in this area, but how the mining mafia manages everything remains unknown.”
The MP claimed that the illegal mining was taking place with the cooperation of some police and administrative officials. He further said that the police prevented him from visiting the families of workers trapped in the mine.
The deputy also called ₹50,000,000 compensation to each victim’s family along with a government job for one member of each affected household.
