GUWAHATI: The body of a miner was recovered on Wednesday morning after the Indian Army, Navy Assam Rifles, NDRF, SDRF, and other agencies resumed operation to rescue people trapped in a coal mine in the 3 Kilo area of Umrangso in Assam.
Deputy commandant of the 1st Battalion, NDRF, N Tiwari, said, “We are working diligently and aim to reach the trapped miners as soon as possible.”
A miner, whose brother is among those trapped, said, “Suddenly, people began shouting that water was filling the mine. Around 30-35 people managed to escape, but 15-16 individuals were trapped inside.”
The incident occurred around 7am on Monday at the Assam Coal Quarry located in Dima Hasao district. The flooding is suspected to have been caused by the opening of an underground water channel.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has been personally monitoring the rescue operations in the middle of his roadshow for the February Advantage Assam 2.0 investment and infrastructure in Mumbai on Monday and in New Delhi on Tuesday, said there is still about 100 ft of water inside the mine.
Sarma posted on X a list of names of nine trapped workers, which include one Ganga Bahadur Shreth (38), a resident of Rampur (Dummana-2Bhijpur) under Thoksila police station in Nepal’s Udayapur district and one Sanjit Sarkar (35), who is a resident of Raichenga in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district. The rest are from Assam.
(With agency inputs)