Rescuers in India are urgently working to save miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in Assam, a situation that has garnered significant attention as fears grow over the possibility of fatalities. Of the nine men believed to be trapped, three are reportedly feared dead, with the state government announcing that rescuers have sighted bodies they cannot yet access.
The miners became trapped earlier this week due to flooding in a rat-hole mine, which is a type of manual coal extraction involving narrow tunnels. Despite a ban on such operations since 2014, illegal mining persists in Assam and neighboring northeastern states. Authorities have deployed divers, helicopters, and engineers to aid in the rescue efforts, supported by state and national disaster response teams.
Assam's Director General of Police, GP Singh, stated on Monday evening that the exact number of individuals still trapped was being confirmed, although preliminary reports suggested that more than a dozen miners had escaped, leaving the number potentially in single digits for those still unaccounted for.
The disaster site, located in the challenging hilly terrain of Dima Hasao district, presents significant logistical hurdles for rescue teams. Senior police official Mayank Kumar Jha highlighted the difficulties posed by the area's remote nature.
Mine-related incidents are a known risk in India’s northeast, with previous disasters highlighting the dangers of illegal mining practices. In a similar event in December 2018, 15 miners were trapped in a neighboring state after water inundated the mine, resulting in a long rescue operation that lasted several months. In January 2024, six workers perished in a rat-hole mine fire in Nagaland, illustrating the persistent dangers faced by laborers in this sector.
