Five killed as soil caves in while digging well MP’s Panna dist

Bhopal: Five labourers died after loose soil caved in during the excavation of a government well under the MGNREGA scheme in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna district on Tuesday.

The incident occurred in Nayapura hamlet of Biharpurwa village under Ajaigarh janpad, where well-digging work had been underway for the past 10 days in a field owned by Binnu Ahirwar. Officials said seven labourers were inside the well when two stepped out to drink water. Shortly after, the surrounding soil suddenly collapsed, trapping the remaining five workers under the debris.

A rescue operation by the local administration continued for nearly three hours, but all five workers were pulled out dead. The deceased were identified as Ashish Yadav, Rajkumar Yadav, Rampal Yadav, Chunnu Yadav and Chunwad Pal.

Preliminary findings indicated that the soil at the site was extremely loose and excavation work was allegedly being carried out without adequate safety measures.

District collector Usha Parmar and SP Nivedita Naidu reached the spot and monitored the rescue operation. The bodies were sent to Ajaigarh Community Health Centre for postmortem examination, while police and revenue officials have launched an inquiry into the incident.

Later, chief minister Mohan Yadav expressed grief over the deaths and announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each for the families of the deceased.