Varanasi: Three women were killed and two others injured after a soil mound collapsed in a forest area of Kirwani village in Sonbhadra district on Monday.Sonbhadra SP Abhishek Verma said a group of women from a nearby village had gone to collect clay from the forest of Kirwani for plastering and painting their mud houses ahead of Holi when the incident took place. They were digging clay near a mound when it suddenly caved in, burying five of them, said the SP. Villagers alerted police on UP112. Police, an SDRF team, and local residents pulled out the women from the debris and took them to the Myorpur Community Health Centre where three women were declared dead. The deceased were identified as Sadikunnisha, 30, Anisha Khatoon, 20, and Sita Kunwar, 28.
CO Duddhi Rajesh Rai, the SDM and other senior officials also reached the spot. The SP said forest and land revenue department officials were asked to further examine the area where people collect mud from mounds, to initiate necessary precautions to avoid a recurrence of such incident.
