At least two persons were killed after rocks collapsed at an unauthorised stone quarry in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, officials said on Sunday (January 4, 2025). Dhenkanal Collector Ashish Ishwar Patil and SP Abhinav Sonkar have reached the spot to supervise the rescue operation. Blasting permission at the stone quarry expired in September while its lease period ended in December 2025, he said. The stone quarry was sealed following the incident. Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik, in a post on X said, “I am deeply saddened to learn that workers lost their lives due to a rockfall following an explosion in a stone quarry in Dhenkanal.

Source: The Hindu January 04, 2026 09:03 UTC