More than a month after 15 miners were trapped in an illegal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia hills, the Indian Navy on Thursday detected a body at a depth of more than 210 feet inside a rat-hole mine.
“One body detected by Indian Navy Divers using Underwater ROV at a depth of approx. 160 feet and 210 feet inside a rat-hole mine., the Navy spokesperson tweeted.
He further said, “The body has been pulled up to the mouth of Rat-hole mine and shall be extracted out of the mine under the supervision of Doctors.”
The miners have been trapped inside the illegal coal mine since December 13 after water from a nearby river gushed in.
The Supreme Court had earlier expressed dissatisfaction over the outcome of the rescue operations.
Several teams of experts including a team from National Geophysical Research Institute Hyderabad, and a team from Roorkee and Chennai are present at the spot to assist the rescue operation.
Coal mine accidents are common in the mountainous state because of unscientific mining commonly known “rat hole mining.”
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2014, had ordered an interim ban on rat-hole coal mining in the state.
