UP quarry collapse: One killed, several trapped, rescue operation underway

Sonbhadra (UP): A worker was killed and several others remain trapped after a stone quarry collapsed in Sonbhadra on Saturday. A senior police official told PTI that the body of one worker was pulled out from the rubble on Sunday morning. The exact number of people still trapped is not yet 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, said "around a dozen labourers" might be under the debris.

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

“The body of one person has been recovered, while a search is underway for the others. Police identified the deceased as Raju Singh (30) from Panari village here,” he said.

The ADG said the stones that fell from the hill are quite large, and the rescue efforts are taking time due to the need to work carefully. Adequate equipment and resources are available, and the entire administration is engaged in the relief work, Mordia said.

According to District Magistrate B N Singh, a wall inside the Krishna Mines quarry suddenly caved in, trapping the workers there. Meanwhile, Minister Gond said the circumstances under which the mine was operating would be investigated, and strict action would be taken against those found guilty.