A sudden cave-in led to a 40 feet-deep crater at Jogta 11 near Baghmara, 25km from Dhanbad district headquarters, early on Monday, but luckily no one was injured even though the underground fire-hit area is home to around 300 families.

The crater, which also engulfed a toilet of daily wage earner Vindo Hadi outside his house, spewed smoke and a cloud of gas, prompting Bharat Coking Coal (BCCL) staff to rush a team there and begin work to fill up the black hole.

Senior officials of the district administration and police, including Dhanbad sub-divisional officer Rakesh Kumar, and ADM (law and order) Rakesh Kumar Dubey, also visited the area and discussed the possibility of shifting the 300 families to a safer place at the earliest.

They issued separate instructions to arrange for night shelter of eight families living in the immediate vicinity of the cave-in.

GM of BCCL Area V.P. Chandra, who reached the spot with Modidih Colliery manager Y.N. Yadav and Jogta Colliery manager N.P. Singh, was supervising the work of filling up the crater with the help of heavy earth movers.

The cave-in occurred at 6.15am, recalled Hadi's wife Anita Devi, who said she heard a loud sound while working in the kitchen. They rushed out to find that the toilet outside her house had collapsed into the crater and was emanating smoke.

"The noise was so loud that people from adjoining houses, Bharat Gupta and Satyendra Singh, also rushed out. Soon most families living in 300 houses nearby panicked and came out to check," she said.

Hadi said he had built the toilet about a year ago using funds provided under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan.

Jogta colliery manager Singh said although the area was in the fire zone, the recent rain had aggravated the situation. Most of those living in the area are encroachers. We will try to rehabilitate them with the help of Jharia Rehabilitation and Development Authority (JRDA)."