Asansol (WB): A 14-year-old boy was killed on Tuesday while allegedly illegally mining for coal at an open-cast mine in West Bengal's Paschim Bardhaman district, after a huge rock fell on him, officials said.
The incident happened at the open-cast mine of Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL) in Sripur in Jamuria police station area, they said. The deceased boy, a resident of Jaba village, was a student of class seven. He was illegally mining coal along with other people of the area when a huge boulder fell. The others managed to escape, but he could not, they added.
An ECL official said it has asked the private entity which was operating the mine to file a report with details of what happened. Police said they have sent the body for post-mortem examination. The incident led to political tensions in the area, with the opposition BJP and ruling TMC trading charges.
Asansol South MLA Agnimitra Paul blamed the ECL and the police for the mishap. "At present, there is no employment in West Bengal. So poor people are forced to do these things, risking their lives. ECL should be more careful," she said.
The Trinamool Congress staged a demonstration, demanding compensation for the family of the deceased boy. "We demanded compensation and a job for a member of his family. The family has been promised by the mine authorities Rs 3 lakh as compensation and a job for the boy's father. Of that Rs 3 lakh, Rs 50,000 was given during the day," said Asansol's mayor-in-council Subrata Adhikari.
On October 12, three people were killed in ECL's Narayankuri open-cast mine in a similar accident while they were illegally mining coal. Meanwhile, BJP MLA Paul along with her supporters demonstrated outside the office of ECL's general manager for Kustoria area, demanding compensation for those killed in the October 12 accident.
