Sunday, 16 November 2025
Sunday, 16 November 2025
A labourer’s body was recovered on Sunday morning from a stone quarry that collapsed in Sonbhadra, while several others remain trapped, police said. The exact number of workers buried under debris is still unclear.
Uttar Pradesh minister and local MLA Sanjeev Kumar Gond, who visited 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, said rescue efforts have been underway since Saturday night. The body of one person has been recovered, while a search is underway for the others, he said, he said.
The deceased has been identified as Raju Singh (30) from Panari village in the 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.
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.
Minister Gond said the conditions under which the mine was operating would be investigated, and strict action would be taken against those found guilty.
