In a tragic incident in Jharkhand's Ramgarh district, four individuals lost their lives, and four others sustained injuries due to a coal mine collapse during illegal mining activities. The incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday at the Karma project in Mahua Tangri, situated within the Kuju Outpost area.

Following the collapse, authorities initiated relief and rescue operations. According to Ramgarh's Sub-Divisional Officer, Anurag Kumar Tiwari, all four bodies were recovered from the accident site, and the injured were promptly rescued. The deceased have been identified as Md Imtiyaz, Rameshwar Manjhi, Wakil Karmali, and Nirmal Munda, all hailing from nearby villages.

Parmeshwar Prasad, the Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Ramgarh, confirmed that the relief and rescue operation had been called off after the debris was cleared, stating that there was no possibility of anyone else being trapped inside.

The abandoned mine where the incident occurred belongs to Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL). SP Ajay Kumar stated that CCL has its own security personnel to prevent illegal activities and that the police extended their cooperation to CCL upon receiving information about the incident.

The incident has sparked protests from villagers who are demanding compensation from CCL. A meeting between the villagers and CCL management took place to discuss compensation, but the outcome is not yet known. The district administration has issued a show-cause notice to the CCL management regarding the incident.

Union Minister Annapurna Devi expressed her condolences and emphasized the need for the state government to take immediate action to prevent such incidents from recurring.

In response to the incident, BJP legislator Dhullu Mahto claimed that large-scale illegal mining was taking place in the district and questioned when the administration would stop such activities. He alleged that the "corrupt and incompetent government" was turning a blind eye to the illegal business. Marandi questioned how the coal mafia was operating in the closed mine.

Kuju police outpost in-charge Ashutosh Kumar Singh said that some villagers were involved in "illegal" mining of coal at the site when the incident happened. Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner (DC) Faiz Aq Ahmed Mumtaz said that an administrative team has been sent to investigate the matter.