PATNA: Six people died while illegally extracting coal in a mine of Central Coalfields Limited (CCL) in Jharkhand’s Giridih district late on Friday night when the upper part of the mine caved in.
The victims were among some 300 people engaged in illegal extraction of coal at the Kabribad mine near Simariadhauda village without any safety arrangements. The dead people were poor labourers who were engaged in the dangerous work at the behest of influential local coal traders, said sources at the Mufassil police station.
Immediately after the accident, family members and co-workers of the six victims carried their bodies to their homes and arranged for their last rites without informing police. But police came to know of the deaths and reached the victims’ homes early on Saturday morning and sent the bodies for autopsy. The dead men were identified as Mohammad Kurban, Mohammad Sonu, Mohammad Zaid, Mohammad Sameed, Imanul Haq and one unknown man. They were all in their early thirties.
“Illegal extraction of coal had been continuing in the lower parts of this mine for the past few days despite efforts by the authorities and police to stop it. These people work mostly at night, under precarious conditions, and do their best to hide from the coal company officials and police,” said Giridih SP Akhilesh B Bariar.
Many mines in Giridih district suffer from illegal extraction of minerals by local people in collusion with traders, and deaths of workers in such accidents are common, said sources. Four people – two women and two children – had lost their lives during illegal, secretive extraction of mica in a mine in a jungle in Tisri block of the district on May 1.