Umrangso mine crisis: Two more bodies recovered, six miners still trapped
The first recovered body, identified as 27-yr-old Lijan Magar, was followed shortly by another unidentified body;
The dead body, retrieved at around 7:36 am, has been identified as that of 26-year-old Lijan Magar, a native of Dima Hasao.
Umrangso, Jan 11: After six gruelling days and 144 hours of relentless rescue operations, personnel from the Indian Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) recovered two bodies from the illegal coal mine at Tin Kilo, Umrangso, on Saturday.
According to reports from the site, the first body, retrieved at around 7:36 am, has been identified as 26-year-old Lijan Magar, a resident of Dima Hasao. The second body was recovered just a few minutes later, though its identity is yet to be confirmed.
These are the second and third bodies recovered from the flooded rat-hole mine, where nine miners are believed to be trapped. The first body, identified as Nepalese miner Ganga Bahadur Srestha from Nepal’s Udayapur district, was retrieved on January 8.
The rescue operations, involving teams from the Army, NDRF, and SDRF, continue to focus on dewatering the mine using high-powered pumps provided by Coal India.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the recovery as tragic and expressed his condolences to the family of the deceased. “Our hearts go out to the grieving, as we hold onto hope and strength in this difficult time,” he wrote on a micro-blogging website.
Providing an update on the rescue efforts, the Chief Minister said that relentless dewatering over the past two days had lowered the water level inside the mine by seven metres as of Friday evening.
“The water level inside the well is still 26 metres high, distributed among four interconnected wells in the vicinity. We will only succeed in the rescue operations once the water is completely pumped out,” he told the press.
Meanwhile, the police have intensified their crackdown on those responsible for the illegal mine. The manager, Hanan Laskar, has been arrested, becoming the second individual apprehended after Punisa Nunisa, who was held under relevant sections of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act. Investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Meanwhile, the prevalence of illegal coal mining in the state, despite sanctions by the National Green Tribunal and rulings by the Supreme Court, has drawn sharp criticism. The Opposition has demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi called for a CBI investigation during a sit-in protest in Digboi. Party members, holding placards and banners, condemned the illegal mining activities and accused the ruling BJP government of collusion with mining syndicates.
