At least nine workers are trapped inside a flooded coal mine in India’s northeastern Assam state, officials said Tuesday, with officials calling in the military to help in the rescue operation.
The miners became trapped Monday morning in the Umrangso area of Dima Hasao district, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south of the state capital Guwahati.
13 young miners feared dead in India’s far northeast
Local government minister Kaushik Rai, who is monitoring the rescue efforts, said, “The workers are feared trapped 300 feet below ground after water came in from a nearby disused mine. We are mobilizing resources to rescue them.”
Army personnel and a National Disaster Management team at the site used ropes and cranes to assist in the ongoing operation.
This image provided by the Indian Army shows an aerial view of the site where at least nine workers are trapped inside a coal mine in the Umrangso area of Dimapur Hasao district in India’s northeastern state of Assam on Tuesday, Jan. 7. 2025. (Indian Army via AP)
Rescue workers found three helmets, some slippers and some other items, Rai said. “Divers have been able to dive in 35 or 40 feet of water inside the mine. Now the water level is estimated to be 100 feet,” he said.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on social media platform X that the mine appears to be illegal and police have arrested one person while investigating the matter.
Workers at the site said more than a dozen miners were trapped inside the mine, which had minimal safety measures in place, and some managed to escape as water from a nearby disused mine began filling the mine.
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In the east and north-east of India, workers extract coal in dangerous conditions in small “rat hole” mines, which are narrow pits in the ground usually large enough for a person to go down, and are common in mountainous areas. Are. Coal is usually stored in boxes which are hoisted to the surface with the help of pulleys. In some cases, miners carried coal in baskets on wooden pallets along the walls of the mines.
Accidents in illegal mines are frequent and the livelihood of such miners depends on the illegal sale of coal. In 2019, at least 15 miners died after becoming trapped in one such mine in Meghalaya state.
