Kolkata, Nov 8 : A landslide in a coal mine in Asansol of West Burdwan district crushed a young man to death, the police said.

On Saturday morning, a legal coal mine collapsed in Charanpur village of the Barabani area of ''Asansol.

According to administrative sources, although the mine was legal, illegal coal mining was going on there for a long time, avoiding the attention of the state administration. Only a section of the villagers was involved in this activity, said sources.

It was learnt that a section of villagers and locals entered the mine in a similar way in the morning. A young man was crushed to death after the earth caved in. The rest of the villagers who were also at the spot fled, according to the police.

A section of the locals fear that many more may be trapped inside the coal mine. However, the police have dismissed that fear and claimed that only the body of the young man identified as Saurabh Goswami has been recovered.

After recovering the body, the police sent it for an autopsy. It is learnt that the young man's house is in the nearby village of Domohani.

"One body has been recovered from the coal mine. The young man died after the earth caved in. The body has been sent for post-mortem," said a senior officer of Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate.

The people have alleged that illegal coal mining has been going on in the coal mine for a very long time, with locals risking their lives to work in the mines by avoiding local administration and central security forces.

Locals claimed that the mine authorities and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) guarding the mine are keeping quiet despite knowing everything.

Local sources have also said that a section of the residents of the area, just for the sake of earning a living, try to enter the mine in a risky way to steal coal.

/IANS