Dhanbad: Three persons were killed and two others injured when a mass of clay rock caved in at Bastacolla colliery area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited near here.
A police official said that the cave-in occurred at around 5 pm yesterday, trapping five persons.
After two hours of rescue operation, two persons were found dead and three injured were admitted to Patliputra Medical College Hospital, where a woman succumbed to her injuries.
Deputy superintendent of police, Sindri range, Pramod Kesri, who monitored the rescue operation, identified the deceased as Manto Baski (14), Lalita Devi (25) and Mangoli Devi (20), residents of villages of Tundi block, 50 km from the spot.
Tribal villagers use white clay for painting the walls of their houses and residents of faraway villages visit Bastacolla area for procuring it.
Senior officials of the police, CISF and BCCL had reached the spot after getting the information and had launched the rescue operation.
PC Yadav, officer in-charge of Dhanudih outpost under which the area falls, held the BCCL management responsible for the accident.
He told media persons that the police had given several reminders to the BCCL for demolishing the rock but the BCCL management had not done it.
—PTI