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Sonbhadra Mine Collapse: A stone mine collapsed during excavation in Sonbhadra, in which 12 to 15 people were trapped. Till now the body of one laborer has been taken out.
17 November, 2025
Sonbhadra Mine Collapse: A major accident took place in Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. During excavation in Sonbhadra, a stone mine collapsed, trapping 12 to 15 people. The body of a laborer has been taken out. The body of a 30-year-old mine worker was recovered from the debris of a stone mine that collapsed here on Sunday morning, a police officer said. Many more people are still buried under the debris. Uttar Pradesh minister and local MLA Sanjeev Kumar Gond said “about a dozen labourers” may be buried under the debris.
Rescue operation going on for 40 hours
Varanasi Zone Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Piyush Mordia said that efforts to remove the debris are ongoing. Police have identified the deceased laborer as Raju Singh of Panari village of the same district. The ADG said that it is taking time to remove the debris as it includes many heavy stones. Sonbhadra Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Verma said that he received information about the mine collapse at Obra police station at around 4.30 pm on Saturday evening. The caller told that many workers were buried under the debris after a part of a stone mine operated by Krishna Mining Works collapsed.
Case registered against three
The Superintendent of Police said that on the complaint of Chhotu Yadav, a resident of Parsoi Tola, the police have registered a case against the owner of Krishna Mining Works and his business partners, Madhusudan Singh and Dilip Keshari. Chhotu Yadav told that his two brothers are buried under the debris. All three are yet to be arrested. Mordai said in a post on Twitter that teams of the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and police were carrying out rescue operations. On Saturday, District Magistrate B N Singh said that during drilling and blasting inside the mine, a large stone suddenly fell, trapping the workers inside. Gond said that the legality of the mine will be investigated.
allegations of illegal mining
Samajwadi Party MP Chhotalal Kharwar alleged that the mine was being run illegally by the mafia in connivance with the local police. He said, “There is a possibility that 12 to 15 people are buried under the stones. Tribal people are being killed in many ways and illegal mining is going on on a large scale in this area. One or two such incidents happen every month in this area, but no one knows how the mining mafia handles everything.”
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