Villagers claim several trapped in Jharkhand coal mine

Dhanbad (Jharkhand): Local people on Thursday claimed that several persons are feared trapped in an abandoned coal mine in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district after it collapsed during illegal mining, but none was found during a rescue operation till late evening, officials said.

The alleged incident occurred in Chanch Victoria colliery area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited.

The BCCL authorities launched a rescue operation in the abandoned mine but none was found during the four-hour search till 8.30 pm when they stopped the exercise.

"There was no casualty," General Manager of Chanch Victoria colliery area, AK Dutt, said. It is not clear whether the search operation will continue on Friday.