Umrangso coal mine crisis: Five more bodies found, total now nine
The relatives of the miners have been notified & asked to identify the bodies
Remaining five bodies from the flooded coal mine in Umrangso, recovered on Wednesday.
(AT Photo)
Umrangso, Feb 19: After 42 days of relentless search and rescue efforts, teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the Indian Army recovered five more bodies from the flooded coal mine at Tin Kilo, Umrangso in Dima Hasao district, on Wednesday.
With these recoveries, all the miners reportedly trapped in the illegal rat-hole mine have been found, bringing the one-and-a-half-month-long rescue operation to an temporary end. The relatives of the miners have been notified and asked to identify the bodies.
Informing about the operation on social media, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that it was made possible due to the dewatering of the hole.
"Today, the dewatering of the Umrangso mines was completed to a level where retrieval operations could be launched. The mortal remains of the remaining 5 miners have been recovered and brought up from the mine shaft. The process to identify the remains has been initiated," posted the Chief Minister on social media.
A few days into the crisis, the government had announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families of each victim.
Earlier in the afternoon, Minister of Mines & Minerals, Kaushik Rai, had confirmed the recovery of the first body. "One more decomposed body has been recovered by the rescue teams today. The identification of the body is pending," he had said.
Hopes for a successful operation further rose when a DDMA official confirmed that another body had been spotted floating inside the mine.
Rescue personnel engaging in recovery of the fifth body
Earlier on February 13, Minister Rai had said that the rescue efforts are continuing in Tin Kilo with a plan to extend operations for a few more days. He had noted that fluctuating water levels, with toxic levels ranging from 1.5 metres to 2 metres, are complicating the process.
The fifth body recovered from flooded coal mine at Tin Kilo, Umrangso
This crisis in Umrangso began on January 6 when reports surfaced that 9 miners were trapped in an illegal rat-hole mine. The disaster turned the spotlight on unsafe mining practices and poor safety measures, sparking nationwide concern. Heavy rainfall and inaccessible terrain also posed severe challenges, delaying recovery efforts.
The Gauhati High Court had taken suo-motu cognisance of the incident on February 7, ordering multiple respondents, including the government and autonomous councils, to file detailed affidavits on the steps taken to tackle rat-hole mining.