Guwahati/Haflong: At least 10 miners are feared dead after being trapped inside a coal mine at Umrangso in Assam’s Dima Hasao district, following a sudden surge in water levels.
Initial reports indicate that over 27 mine workers entered the mine on Monday morning. However, only 17 workers were able to escape safely while over ten remain trapped in the 300-foot-deep mine, which is now filled with 100 feet of water.
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Local police and fire service personnel have initiated rescue operations. The spot is about 30 km from the nearest police station at Umrangso.
Sources confirm that teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have arrived at the scene and commenced rescue efforts. However, the rising water levels are significantly hampering their progress.
Dima Hasao Deputy Commissioner Simanta Kumar Das, who also serves as the chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority, has reached the site to assess the situation.
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He said that the mine’s group leader, who typically maintains a list of miners, has fled the scene, hindering initial efforts to ascertain the exact number of trapped individuals.
Coal mining in the Northeast has seen a string of tragic accidents in recent years. In January 2024, a fire in a Nagaland mine claimed six lives and injured four. Just months later, in May, a mine collapse in Assam’s Tinsukia district resulted in the deaths of three miners.
A suspected gas leak in September 2022 at an illegal mine in Tinsukia led to the deaths of three laborers.
One of the most devastating incidents occurred in December 2018, when at least 15 miners perished in a flooded rat-hole mine in Meghalaya’s Ksan.