Soil mound collapses in UP, three dead

Gonda (UP), May 22 (PTI) A mound of soil collapsed during excavation near a shrine in Pipra Mahim village here, leaving three persons dead and another critically injured, police said.

Superintendent of Police Vineet Jaiswal said on Thursday that a JCB machine was being used to excavate soil on both sides of the Masoom-e-Millat shrine when the incident occurred on Wednesday night.

"The deceased have been identified as Farzan Raza (38), Shakeel Mohammad (50), and Asad (14), all residents of Pipra Mahim, along with Fakir Mohammad (20) from Rajwapur, Mankapur police station area," the officer said.

With the assistance of villagers, all four were pulled out from the rubble and rushed to a hospital where doctors pronounced Shakeel, Asad, and Fakir dead upon arrival. Farzan Raza was referred to a local medical college in a critical condition.

The bodies have been sent for postmortem. PTI COR CDN DV DV