Minor girl among four dead in MP’s Betul district as coal mine caves in

Some local women were extracting coal illegally from the closed mine when it caved in.

Updated on: Jan 7, 2018, 20:05:09 IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | By Neeraj Santoshi

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Four people, including a minor girl, died on Sunday when a closed coal mine caved in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district, nearly 178 kilometers south-east of Bhopal, superintendent of police said.

Rescue operations underway at the accident site in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district. (HT Photo)

Betul’s sub-divisional magistrate, SK Bhandari, told Hindustan Times over phone that some local women were illegally extracting coal from Satpuda 2 coal mine of Western Coalfields Ltd (WCL) in Pathakheda area when the mine caved in.

“This accident spot is actually the area where the coal was dumped. The women were extracting coal illegally from the aggregate when it caved in,” he said.

Policemen from Pathakheda and Sarinee along with locals rescued those trapped under the debris. Search is on to check whether more people were still trapped under the debris.

Those killed in the incident include Seelu Chorsey, 45, Meena Borsey 35, Nani Bai, 30 and Payal, 11, all residents of Kalimai area, said local district authorities.

Betul collector Shashank Mishra and superintendent of police rushed to the spot to oversee the rescue operation.

Superintendent of police DR Teniwar said an investigation was underway.

This is not the first such incident in the state. In 2012, six people were killed when an illegal coal mine caved in at Bargawan area in Singrauli district. In 2016, two people died in a coal mine roof collapse in Umaria district. In 2016, around one acre land of a closed mine coal mine in Shahdol district caved in but there was no casualty.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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