Sylhet stone quarry toll 6, mostly children

Death toll in the illegal stone quarry in Sylhet’s India-border area Bangla Tila rose to six, mostly children, after a pit caved in and buried extraction workers this morning.

The deceased were primarily identified as Zakir, 16, Nahid, 13, Shakil, 12, and Maruf, 13, Kadir, 13, and Sundor Ali, 35, our Sylhet correspondent updates quoting police.

District police Additional Superintendent Md Shamsul Alam Sarker confirmed The Daily Star of the development and said police forces were dispatched at the spot.

Dead bodies of the children have been recovered, however, the body of the adult man is still missing, said Abdul Ahad, officer-in-charge of Kanaighat Police Station.

Bangla Tila in Sylhet’s Kanaighat upazila is a remote hilly area on the edge of Bangladesh-India border. Stone mining from the hills and mountains is officially prohibited.

They were illegally extracting stone from the mountains in the twilight, around 6:00am, when the hill caved in and buried the workers, ASP Shamsul Alam said.

Md Koyesur Rahman, member of Laksmiprashad Purbo Union, told The Daily Star the children engaged in the risky job for some quick cash ahead of a local madrasa congregation tonight.

ASP Shamsul Alam said police are trying to recover the missing body and stop illegal stone extraction in the upazila.