GUWAHATI, 11 Jan: The bodies of three workers, who were trapped inside a coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao district, were recovered on Saturday from the quarry during rescue operations, an official said.
Four bodies have so far been recovered, with the first one taken out from the mine on Wednesday, he said.
The four deceased labourers were among the nine workers trapped inside the mine in Umrangsu on Monday after a sudden gush of water flooded the quarry.
“The rescue operations resumed this morning and three bodies were recovered as the search for trapped miners entered its sixth day. The body of one labourer, hailing from Nepal, was recovered on 8 January,” the official said.
One of the three labourers whose bodies were recovered from the mine during the day was identified as 27-year-old Ligen Magar, a resident of Village Number 1 of Kalamati in Dima Hasao, he said.
The identification of two other bodies is underway, the district official said.
Magar’s body was found floating on accumulated water in the mine after the army and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) divers went to bring out the worker, the official said.
Gogoi seeks SIT probe into Assam mining tragedy-Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi on Saturday said he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking an SIT probe into the mining tragedy in Assam which left several labourers in a coal quarry dead.
He also alleged that “illegal mining continues unchecked” due to “weak law enforcement and local complicity” in the Northeastern state.
Gogoi said that the proposed special investigation team (SIT) should not only look into the “illegal” operation of the mine and identify those responsible for this tragedy but also address the broader issues at play.
”This includes the failure to enforce the NGT’s (National Green Tribunal) ban on rathole mining, the complicity of local authorities – including the district administration and district police – who have enabled these illegal activities to persist, despite repeated accidents and warnings,” the Congress leader alleged.
