UP stone quarry collapse: Toll rises to six, more workers feared trapped

Five more bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a stone quarry that collapsed in Uttar Pradesh's Sonbhadra district on Saturday, 15 November, taking the death toll to six, officials said.

Efforts to rescue labourers trapped under huge boulders at the quarry operated by Krishna Mining Works have gone on for nearly 48 hours now, with several still believed to be under the debris.

Sonbhadra district magistrate B.N. Singh said five bodies were recovered on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

"One body was recovered in the night. The deceased was identified as Indrajit (30), a resident of Panari, Obra. The other deceased persons have been identified as Santosh Yadav (30), Ravindra alias Nanak (18), Ramkhelavan (32) and Kripashankar." The body of Raju Singh (30) was recovered earlier on Sunday.

The state government has announced a three-tier probe into the incident by the police, mining and district administration.

UP minister Ravindra Jaiswal, who met the victims' families, said each deceased worker’s family would receive around Rs 20 lakh from the government. He added that all injured or affected labourers will be fully supported under schemes run by the labour department. He assured strict action against those found guilty of illegal mining or violation of safety standards.

The police have booked the owner of Krishna Mining Works and his business partners, Madhusudan Singh and Dilip Keshari, both residents of Obra, on a complaint by Parsoi Tola resident Chhotu Yadav, who said his two brothers were trapped under the rubble, Sonbhadra superintendent of police (SP) Abhishek Verma said.

The Samajwadi Party's Robertsganj MP Chotelal Kharwar alleged that illegal mining was being carried out in collusion with the police and administrative officials. Kharwar claimed he was stopped by the police from meeting the kin of the trapped mine workers. He also demanded Rs 50 lakh as compensation for the victims' families and a government job for each family.

With agency inputs