Group of Miners Trapped Inside Rat Hole Coal Mine for Fifth Day
On 6/3/21 at 12:31 PM EDT
Search and rescue efforts continue for a group of miners trapped for five days in a coal mine in the Indian state of Meghalaya.
Eyewitnesses said the illegal coal mine was quickly flooded after a sudden dynamite explosion in Meghalaya s East Jaintia Hills District on May 30, NDTV reports.
The heavy rainfall has hindered rescue efforts inside the coal mine, known as a rat hole because of the narrow crevices through which coal is extracted. According to the BBC, rat hole mining was banned in 2014 but is still widely practiced across the East Jaintia Hills area.
Heavy rainfall has hampered rescue operations to rescue at least five miners who have been trapped for two days deep inside an illegal rat-hole coal pit in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district.
Express News Service
GUWAHATI: Five miners were trapped in a coal mine on Monday in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district after a dynamite exploded, causing water to gush in and flood the mine. A search and rescue operation was underway as of Monday night. The police have identified three of the trapped miners as Abdul Karim, Abdul Kalam (both from Assam), and Shyamcharan Debbarma from Tripura.
The district Superintendent of Police, Jagpal Singh Dhanoa, said the action was taken based on the information received from Assam police about six workers being trapped in a coal mine in East Jaintia Hills on the night of May 30-31. The site was located at 6.00 am on Monday.
Five labourers have been trapped inside an illegal coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills since Sunday after a dynamite explosion caused a breach in the walls of the 'rat hole' mine, police said, adding water had rushed inside.