Authorities in India's north-eastern Assam state are facing a challenging rescue operation as three miners are feared dead inside a flooded coal mine in a remote district. The incident occurred in the hilly Dima Hasao district, where a total of nine men were trapped inside the mine.
Rescue teams have spotted three bodies but have not yet been able to recover them, according to a statement from the local government. The army has been mobilized to assist in the rescue efforts, deploying divers, helicopters, and engineers to the site.
Dima Hasao district police chief, Mayank Kumar, explained that the mine was flooded due to an internal source, possibly a water channel that the miners inadvertently breached. The trapped miners have been underground since Monday, prompting a swift response from the army, national, and state disaster relief forces.
Photographs shared by the army on social media depict the challenging conditions faced by the rescue workers, who are equipped with ropes, cranes, and other necessary tools to access the trapped miners in the vertical mine.
Coal mine-related incidents are not uncommon in the remote northeastern region of India. In a tragic event in 2019, at least 15 miners lost their lives in an illegal mine in the neighboring state of Meghalaya after it was flooded by water from a nearby river.
