Two die, 3 hurt in illegal coal mining in Dhanbad

DHANBAD: At least two persons, including a 12-year-old, were killed and three others injured when a huge coal block fell on them during a reported illegal mining incident. The incident happened at the 4A patch of the Bhoura south colliery in the Eastern Jharia (EJ) area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) on Friday morning.

This is a rare case of an illegal mining incident admitted by both villagers and mining companies. While the villagers made it public because of the proximity of the EJ area to human habitation, BCCL said it was a bid to steal mined coal. After the incident, villagers of Bhoura Basti number 16, the home of the 12-year-old victim, protested with the corpse.