Guwahati: With the passage of seven days, hope dims for the survival of miners trapped at a colliery in the Tinkilo area of Umrangsho in Dima Hasao district. While the rescuers could retrieve four bodies from the flooded mine till Saturday, five of the nine miners still remain trapped.
The district administration said six high-powered pumps have been installed for dewatering the nearby three mines and nine pumps have been continuously dewatering the ill-fated coal mine. A team of the Indian Navy team moved out from the incident site on Monday.
"As per the early morning report, the water level has decreased by 0.3 meters," officials said.
The abandoned coal mine flooded on January 6 when some miners were still working inside. As the gushing water came in from the nearby mine, some of the miners could escape while nine others remained trapped.
It may be mentioned here that the coal mine was abandoned by the Assam Minerals Development Corporation about 12 years back. The ill-fated miners entered the mine illegally to retrieve coal.
The police have already registered a case and started probing against the illegal mining activity in the district.
The Army, Assam Rifles, Navy, State Disaster Rescue Force (SDRF), National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) and Coal India Limited have joined hands in the rescue operation.
A joint rescuing team of the Indian Navy and Coal India Limited brought high-tech equipment like Sonar and underwater remote-operated vehicles to trace the trapped miners.
Also Read:
