Meghalaya mine tragedy: Navy teams continue ops to recover trapped miners

Days after one body was recovered from the flooded coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills where 5 miners have been trapped since May 30, a 12-member Indian Navy diving

Days after one body was recovered from the flooded coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills where 5 miners have been trapped since May 30, a 12-member Indian Navy diving team is continuing with its operations to recover the other four bodies.

According to some sources, another body is in sight but efforts to retrieve it has not been successful as yet.

It may be recalled that the Navy had assisted in a similar rescue and recovery effort after 15 miners were trapped inside a mine in 2018.

The current operation entails the Indian Navy divers to lower themselves and their specialised diving gear into an extremely narrow shaft to a depth of almost 400 feet. The operation is further challenged by poor underwater visibility and unmapped shafts.

Rescuers have pumped out 2.88 lakh litres of water from the main shaft and 8.10 lakh litres from the second shaft.

At present, over 50 personnel from NDRF and SDRF are already present at the site.

Five migrant workers from Assam and Tripura have been feared trapped in the ill-fate coal mine after a dynamite blast led to its flooding.

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