Madhya Pradesh roof collapse: At least three people were killed after a roof collapsed in a coal mine of Western Coalfields Limited in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district on Thursday (March 6), police said. The accident occurred in the underground mine of WCL, a subsidiary of state-owned Coal India Limited, in the Chhatarpur area of the district, they said.
Three men, including a supervisor, got buried under the debris after the roof fell. Two of them were pulled out and rushed to the hospital, Superintendent of Police Nischal Jharia told media from the spot, about 65 km from the district headquarters.
“We are looking for one more person who is still trapped,” Jharia said.
According to locals, the roof collapsed around 3:00 pm.
The bodies of the workers have been sent to a hospital operated by Western Coalfields Limited for post-mortem examinations. Western Coalfields Limited is engaged in the mining and marketing of coal, with operations across 82 mines spread over 10 regions in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.The existing underground Chhatarpur mine no. I and Chhatarpur mine no. II are situated adjacent to each other in Pathakhera Coalfields. In October 2024, WCL had closed its underground Pathakhera Mine No-II, which was originally opened in January 1970 in Betul District. This mine has been closed due to the exhaustion of coal reserves.
Also, the “Miniratna” company closed another underground mine, Pathakhera Mine No- I, which was established on May 16, 1963, in Betul District, Madhya Pradesh. This mine has been closed due to the exhaustion of extractable reserves in all three coal seams, and another underground mine, Satpura II, which was opened in June 1973 in Betul District. This mine has been closed due to depletion of coal resources within approved project limits.