A landfill dam at a coal power plant in central India collapsed, leaving two dead and four more missing, in a shocking disaster.

The incident occurred at the Singrauli district of Maharashtra state on April 10, when the Reliance Power's Ultra Mega Power Project's (UMPP) fly ash dam collapsed.

Fly ash dams are built to hold toxic ash buildup from the burning of coal fuel.

The flood of the toxic ash slurry from the collapsed dam located in adjoining Harhawa village washed away six persons, including three children, a woman and two men living in the adjoining villages.

According to Singrauli district collector, so far two bodies, identified as eight-year-old Abhishek Shah and 35-year-old Dinesh Kumar have been retrieved from the ash slurry, which flowed into a channel to the Rihand Dam around seven kilometres away.

Four more persons, including Abhishek's nine-year-old sister Sima Kumari, their 27-year-old mother Chunkumari Shah, deceased Dinesh Kumar's three-year-old son Ankit and 28-year-old Razzad Ali are missing and feared dead, the Singrauli collector added. 

Two women Keshpati Shah (28) and Reena Kumari (26) who were injured in the incident are stated stable at the hospital.

While 20 districts of Madhya Pradesh battle hard against the killer onslaught of the novel Coronavirus, the Singrauli district of the central Indian state has been hit by a tragedy caused by the Reliance Power plant's fly ash dam collapse. 

The incident took place on April 10 in Singrauli district of central IndiaThe Reliance Power's Ultra Mega Power Project's (UMPP) in Sasan area of Singrauli fly ash dam collapsed on Friday evening.

The flood of the toxic ash slurry from the collapsed dam located in adjoining Harhawa village washed away six persons, including three kids, a woman and two men living in the adjoining villages.

According to Singrauli district collector, so far two bodies, identified as eight-year-old Abhishek Shah and 35-year-old Dinesh Kumar have been retrieved from the ash slurry which has mixed in a nullah and flown to the Rihand Dam around 7 km away on the MP-UP border.

Four more persons, including deceased Abhishek's nine-year-old sister Sima Kumari, their 27-year-old mother Chunkumari Shah, deceased Dinesh Kumar's three-year-old son Ankit and 28-year-old Razzad Ali are missing and feared dead, the Singrauli collector added. 

Two women Keshpati Shah (28) and Reena Kumari (26) who were injured in the incident are stated stable at the hospital.

NDRF team from Varanasi (which is located 230 km from the spot of the ash dam collapse in MP) are engaged in rescue work.

This is not the first fly ash dam collapse of power plants in Singrauli, which is considered the electric power hub of the MP.

This is the third time such a breach or collapse has happened in the dam (which stores fly ash remains of coal lighted power plants) of any power plant in Singrauli district.