Three more bodies were recovered from the debris of a collapsed stone quarry in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district, raising the death toll to four, officials said on Monday. District Magistrate BN Singh stated that the bodies were found during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. One of the deceased, identified as 30-year-old Indrajit from Panari in Obra, was recovered first, while the other two remain unidentified.

The quarry had caved in on Saturday evening. According to Additional Director General of Police, Varanasi Zone, Piyush Mordia, the removal of debris is slow due to large boulders at the site. Superintendent of Police Abhishek Verma said they received information about the collapse at around 4:30 pm on Saturday, when a caller reported that several workers had been buried after a part of the Krishna Mining Works quarry gave way. Police have registered a case against the quarry owner and his partners, Madhusudan Singh and Dilip Keshari, following a complaint by Chhotu Yadav, who said his two brothers were trapped under the rubble. None of the accused have been arrested yet.

Samajwadi Party MP from Robertsganj, Chotelal Kharwar, alleged that the mine was being operated illegally by the mining mafia with support from local police. He claimed that between 12 and 15 people might still be buried and accused authorities of allowing widespread illegal mining in the region. Kharwar also said police prevented him from meeting the families of those trapped and demanded ₹50 lakh compensation and a government job for each affected family.