After a gruelling 44-day search operation, rescuers have discovered the bodies of five men who were trapped in a flooded coal mine in Assam, located in India’s northeastern region.
DNA tests will be conducted to identify the men as the bodies are in a decomposed state, a state official told the BBC.
On 6 January, nine miners were trapped after water flooded the so-called “rat-hole” mine, which is a narrow hole dug manually to extract coal.
In the initial week of search efforts, four bodies were recovered. Operations persisted until Wednesday, culminating in the discovery of the remaining bodies.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on the social media platform X that identifying and identifying has commenced.
The families of the miners have been summoned to assist in identifying the bodies. According to Riki Phukan, an Assam’s District Disaster Management Authority official, the state government will compensate those affected.
Special disaster forces, the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, the state police, and the district disaster authority collaborated on search operations at the Umrangso coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao district.
Divers and helicopters were dispatched to the scene; however, the mine’s remote and hilly terrain presented significant obstacles.
Earlier, one of the men rescued from the mine had shared with the BBC a harrowing account of the moments after the tunnel was suddenly engulfed by water.
A Nepal worker, Ravi Rai said he worked inside the mine when water entered the pit.
“We clung to a rope in depths of 50-60 feet for at least 50 minutes before being rescued,” he stated.
In India, the 2014 prohibition of “rat-hole” mining has not succeeded in halting the operation of small illegal mines, particularly in Assam and other northeastern states.
In January 2024, a tragic incident occurred in Nagaland state, where a fire erupted in a rat-hole coal mine, resulting in the deaths of six workers.
In 2018, a tragic incident unfolded in Meghalaya when at least 15 men became trapped in an illegal mine due to flooding caused by water from a nearby river.
Following a recent accident, authorities in Assam have announced an investigation into illegal mining operations within the state.
