Defense PRO, GuwahatiRescuers in India are scrambling to free miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in the northeastern state of Assam.
Three of the nine men on board were feared dead, Reuters reported, after the provincial government said rescue teams had seen bodies they could not reach.
The men were trapped on Monday morning after water filled the rat mine, which is a small pit dug to extract coal.
Despite the ban on such mining in India since 2014, illegal small-scale mining continues to operate in Assam and other northeastern states.
Divers, helicopters and engineers have been deployed to help rescue the trapped men and state and national disaster response forces are also assisting efforts.
On Monday evening, Assam Director General of Police GP Singh said authorities were confirming the exact number of people trapped.
Reports say that more than ten miners managed to escape and initial reports say that “the numbers will be in the single digits”.
Defense PRO, Guwahati
Defense PRO, GuwahatiThe mine is located in a hilly area in Dima Hasao district.
District police chief Mayank Kumar Jha told Reuters the area was “very remote” and “difficult to reach”.
Mine-related disasters are not uncommon in northeast India.
In December 2018, at least 15 men were trapped in an illegal mine in the neighboring state of Meghalaya after water from a nearby river flooded it.
Five miners managed to escape but efforts to rescue others continued until the first week of March the following year. Only two bodies were found.
In January 2024, six workers died after a fire broke out in a coal mine with a rat hole in Nagaland state.
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