NEW DELHI, Jan 12 (NNN-PTI) – Rescuers in India’s north-eastern state of Assam, yesterday, retrieved the bodies of three more trapped workers from inside a coal mine, as the operation to trace the missing workers has entered the sixth straight day, officials said.
The bodies were recovered from the rat-hole coal mine in Umrangso of Dima Hasao district, about 241 km south-east of Dispur, the capital city of Assam.
“Today (yesterday) three bodies were retrieved from the coal mine, due to the efforts of rescuers, who have been using pumps to dewater the inundated rat-hole mine,” a police official said.
Rat-hole mining entails digging into the side of hills and then burrowing horizontal narrow tunnels to reach a coal deposit.
So far, four bodies have been recovered and the search for the remaining five is underway. The first body was retrieved from the mine last Wednesday.
Last Monday, at least nine workers were trapped inside the coal mine, after a sudden gush of water flooded the quarry.
Experts say, the coal mining industry is poorly regulated in India, and miners with little protection are often faced with life-threatening situations.– NNN-PTI
