Bodies of three workers, trapped inside a coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao district, were recovered on Saturday during rescue operations, an official reported. Four bodies have been recovered so far; the first was extracted from the mine on Wednesday. The four deceased laborers were among the nine workers trapped in Umrangsu on Monday after a sudden surge of water flooded the quarry.
Assam Minister Kaushik Rai told news agency PTI, "Four bodies have been found of the nine missing persons, as per the Chief Minister's list. Dewatering efforts have been ongoing since the first-second day, as the water level was very high. I believe the dewatering work can be completed within 36 hours."
An official said that one of the deceased had been identified as 27-year-old Ligen Magar, a resident of village number 1 of Kalamati in Dima Hasao.
The army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) divers found a body floating in the accumulated water in the mine when they went in to rescue workers.
Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the rescue operation has been continuing with “unwavering resolve.”
"Rescue efforts in Umrangsu continue with unwavering resolve. Tragically, another body was recovered this morning...," the chief minister posted on the microblogging site.
''Our hearts go out to the grieving, as we hold on to hope and strength in this difficult time," he added.
The rescue workers have continued to dewater the 340-foot-deep quarry, using specialised machines brought in by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and Coal India.
He said the authorities of the workers had been arrested and police are investigating the case. Speaking on the ongoing rescue operations, Sarma said that dewatering has been continuing since Thursday and so far, 7 metres of water have been cleared. ''There was water up to 26 metres across four wells. If water is cleared from the wells, we can expect some results'', he said as per PTI.
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He said a machine was brought from Nagpur and that it would operate from Saturday morning. He added that it if functions as the plans, it could be expected that the water would be cleared by the evening.
On the alleged involvement of a family member of Dima Hasao Autonomous Council's Chief Executive Member (CEM) Debolal Gorlosa in the incident, the chief minister said, ''This is a human tragedy and we should not politicise it."
The chief minister claimed while the mine was not illegal, it had been abandoned for 12 years and was under the Assam Mineral Development Corporation till three years ago. ''It was not an illegal mine but an abandoned one. The workers had entered the mine that day for the first time to extract coal," Sarma said on Friday night.