3 more bodies recovered from abandoned Madhya Pradesh coal mine where four died

A day after four persons died on entering an abandoned underground coal mine in Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh, three more bodies were recovered from the facility on Saturday, a police official said.

The four men had entered the mine in Dhanpuri, some 28 kilometres from the district headquarters, allegedly with the intention to collect coal or scrap and died after inhaling toxic gas, police had said on Friday. It was suspected some more persons could be inside the abandoned mine after we came across three missing person complaints filed in police stations in the area, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mukesh Vaish told PTI.

"A rescue team from the local colliery and police reached the spot and started a five-hour long search operation leading to the recovery of three bodies on Saturday evening. They were identified as Rohit Kol, Rajesh Mishra and Manoj Barman," Vaish said. On Friday, Superintendent of Police Kumar Prateek had said four deaths took place between 10 pm and 11 pm on Thursday.

The deceased were identified as Raj Mahto (20), Hazari Kol (30), Rahul Kol (23) and Kapil Vishwakarma (21), all residents of Dhanpuri. He had said initial investigations suggest the men died after inhaling toxic gas emanating from the closed mine.

As per residents of the vicinity, the mine's opening has been blocked with bricks and cement, but some try to enter with iron rods etc to look for coal or scrap.