Indian army divers retrieve the body of one of at least 9 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine

GUWAHATI, India — Indian army divers retrieved the body of one of at least nine miners trapped inside a flooded coal mine in India’s northeastern Assam state, officials said Wednesday.

The miners became trapped on Monday when water gushed in from a nearby unused mine in the Umrangso area in Dima Hasao district, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south of the state capital, Guwahati.

“Army deep divers have found and retrieved one body from the flooded mine. The divers will go into the mine again to continue their search operations,” said Kaushik Rai, a local government minister who is monitoring the rescue efforts.

Nearly 100 rescuers from the police, navy, army and the National Disaster Response Force are battling adverse conditions and taking turns searching inside the 300-foot (90 meter) -deep mine.

Braving the winter chill in the Barail mountain range, the divers are lowered into the narrow mine by cranes to search its dark flooded interior.

The navy is also sending in remotely operated vehicles to examine the mine.

“High suction pumps are being flown into the site by Indian Air Force helicopters to aid in pumping out the water from the mine,” Rai said.

On Tuesday, rescuers found three helmets, some slippers and a few other items. The water in the mine is estimated to be 100 feet (30 meters) deep.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on the social media platform X that the mine appeared to be illegal and that police had arrested one person as they investigate the case.

Workers at the site said over a dozen miners had been trapped inside the mine, which has minimum safety measures, and some managed to escape as water from the nearby unused mine began pouring in.

In India’s east and northeast, workers extract coal in hazardous conditions from small “rat hole” mines that are narrow pits in the ground, usually meant for one person to go down, and are common in hilly areas. The coal is usually placed in boxes that are hoisted to the surface with pulleys. In some cases, miners carry coal in baskets up on wooden slats flanking the walls of the mines.

Accidents in illegal mines are frequent and the livelihoods of those who do such mining depend on the illegal sale of coal. At least 15 miners were killed after getting trapped in one such mine in Meghalaya state in 2019.