The Tragic End of the Search for India’s Missing Miners

Rescuers have concluded a 44-day search operation after discovering the bodies of five men who were trapped inside a flooded coal mine in India’s northeastern state of Assam.

According to a state official speaking to the News Storm24, DNA tests will be conducted to identify the men as the bodies are in a decomposed state.

The incident occurred on January 6th when nine miners became trapped after water flooded the rat-hole mine, a narrow hole manually dug for coal extraction. Four bodies were recovered within the first week, with search operations continuing until Wednesday when the remaining bodies were located.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on the social media platform X that the process to identify the remains has begun. The families of the miners have been asked to identify the bodies and will receive compensation from the state government, as stated by Riki Phukan, an official from Assam’s District Disaster Management Authority.

The search operations at the Umrangso coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao district were a joint effort involving special disaster forces, the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, state police, and the district disaster authority. Despite the deployment of divers and helicopters, the remote and hilly terrain of the mine presented significant challenges.

One of the rescued miners, Ravi Rai from Nepal, shared a chilling account with the News Storm24 of the moments after the tunnel was flooded with water. He described clinging to a rope in 50-60ft (15-18m) deep water for nearly 50 minutes before being rescued.

Although rat-hole mining has been banned in India since 2014, illegal mines continue to operate in Assam and other northeastern states. Tragically, six workers lost their lives in January 2024 due to a fire in a rat-hole coal mine in Nagaland state. Additionally, in 2018, at least 15 men were trapped in an illegal mine in Meghalaya after water from a nearby.