MP well collapse: 19 rescued, five bodies recovered

The incident took place on Thursday night when the parapet wall of the well in Lal Patar village in Ganj Basoda area, 50 km from here, gave way, and the people who were standing on it fell inside.In further mishap, a tractor deployed for the rescue operation skidded into the well with four policemen when the area around it caved in around 11 pm.The rescue operation is still underway, state Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang told PTI from the spot.

As many as 19 people have been pulled out safely and five bodies recovered as of Friday evening from a well in which several people fell while trying to rescue a boy in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district. The incident took place on Thursday night when the parapet wall of the well in Lal Patar village in Ganj Basoda area, 50 km from here, gave way, and the people who were standing on it fell inside.

In further mishap, a tractor deployed for the rescue operation skidded into the well with four policemen when the area around it caved in around 11 pm.

The rescue operation is still underway, state Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang told PTI from the spot. ''Nineteen persons have been pulled out safely so far,'' said Sarang, who is also the district's guardian minister.

Asked how many people were still feared trapped under the rubble, he said it was difficult to ascertain. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced in the morning that families of the deceased will be given a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each, while the injured will be provided Rs 50,000 each and free medical treatment.

According to local people, the well is around 50 feet deep and had about 20 feet of water.

A teenage boy fell into the well on Thursday night. While some people climbed down to rescue him, others were standing on the parapet wall to help them. They were thrown into the water when the surrounding wall crashed, eye witnesses said.