 "The Indian Army on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, launched a Relief Task Force to rescue trapped miners in Umrangso, Dima Hasao, Assam. Source: X | @prodefkohima")
At least three among total nine workers trapped in a flooded coal mine in Dima Hasao district of Assam, a north-eastern state of India, have died on Tuesday. Rescuers have been working for more than 24 hours to save those trapped since Monday morning.
A report by Reuters quoted the local government saying that three bodies have been spotted by rescue teams but have not yet been recovered.
Assam rat hole mine rescue
On Monday (January 6) morning, nine workers aged between 26 and 57 got trapped in a coal mine in 3 Kilo, Umrangso, in the hilly Dima Hasao district. With the mine located in a remote location, rescue operations could not be carried out at full pace on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, 30 personnel of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) and eight personnel of the State Disaster Relief Force reached the spot and commenced the rescue operation.
Also, specialist divers, Engineers Task Force with equipment, medical team and support staff from the Army as well as Assam Rifles reached the site on Tuesday morning to speed up the rescue efforts.
The Army said that it has deployed divers, helicopters and engineers to help rescue the trapped workers.
Notably, the mine in which nine workers are trapped, is said to be close to Assam’s border with Meghalaya where 15 workers died in one of the worst mining mishaps in 2018 after being trapped in a rat-hole mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills.
What were the workers doing inside the mine?
A report by The Indian Express quoted NDRF Second in Command (Operations/Training) Kuldeep Sharma as saying that the workers, who got trapped, were working in rat holes connecting to the central pit of the mine when it got flooded.
But how the mine got flooded
The Reuters report cited Dima Hasao district police chief Mayank Kumar as saying, “The mine got flooded yesterday — the source was internal. They (the miners) probably hit some water channel and water came out and flooded it.”
Meanwhile, the IE report quoted Sharma, as saying, “It is a coal mine and there are rat hole mines at a depth of 300 feet or so. When the miners were digging there, they contacted some water source and damaged it, due to which it was flooded. At that time itself, using cranes and trolleys, some were rescued by locals but around nine remained trapped,” he said.
Challenges in rescuing workers trapped in Assam mine
Sharma said the primary challenge is the depth of the pit which is now flooded.
“Teams have already gone down once for depth assessment and are trying to find the best possible way to retrieve them,” the IE report quoted Sharma as saying.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday released the list of workers trapped in the mine. He further said that the team at the site has assessed that the water level inside has surged to nearly 100 feet.
“Navy deep divers have been requisitioned to assist in the rescue operation… The divers are flying in from Vishakhapatnam and are expected to arrive soon,” Sarma said.
With inputs from agencies.