UP: One killed in Sonbhadra stone quarry collapse, rescue operations underway

SONBHADRA: The body of a labourer was recovered from the rubble on Sunday morning from a stone quarry that collapsed here, while several others remain trapped, a senior police official said.

The exact number of trapped individuals is not known.

Uttar Pradesh minister and local MLA Sanjeev Kumar Gond, who visited the spot in the Billi Markundi mining area after the collapse on Saturday evening, said "around a dozen labourers" might be trapped under the debris.

Additional Director General of Police (ADG), Varanasi Zone, Piyush Mordia, on Sunday said efforts to remove the debris from the quarry has been going on since last night.

The body of one person has been recovered, while a search is underway for the others, he said.

Police identified the deceased as Raju Singh (30) from Panari village in the same district.

The ADG said the stones that fell from the hill are quite large, and rescue efforts are taking time as the teams need to tread carefully.

Adequate equipment and resources are available, and the entire administration is engaged in the relief work, he added.

Superintendent of Police (SP), Sonbhadra, Abhishek Verma said, around 4.30 pm on Saturday, the Obra police station received information that some workers were buried under rocks and debris after a portion of a stone quarry at Krishna Mining Works in the Billi Markundi area collapsed.

The SP said, based on a complaint lodged by Chhotu Yadav -- resident of Parsoi Tola -- who claimed his two brothers are still trapped under the rubble, police have registered a case against three accused -- the owner of Krishna Mining Works (name and domicile unknown), and his business partners Madhusudan Singh and Dilip Keshari, both residents of Obra.

The officer said teams are being formed to arrest the suspects.

ADG Mordai in a post on X on Sunday said, some workers are feared to have been buried by a rockfall at the Krishna Mining Works quarry in the Billi Markundi mining area on November 15.

Rescue operations are underway by teams from the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force), SDRF (State Disaster Response Force), and local police, he said, adding that senior NDRF and police officials besides himself, are camping at the scene since Saturday night.

On Saturday, District Magistrate B N Singh said a wall inside the Krishna Mining Works quarry suddenly caved in, trapping the workers inside.

Minister Gond said the conditions under which the mine was operating would be investigated, and strict action would be taken against those found guilty.