Rescuers in India are racing against time to bring out miners trapped inside a flooded coal mine in the northeastern state of Assam. Three of the nine men inside were feared dead, Reuters reported, after the state government said rescue teams had spotted some bodies they had been unable to reach. The men were trapped on Monday morning after water flooded the so-called "rat-hole" mine, which is a narrow hole dug manually to extract coal. Despite a ban on such mining in India since 2014, small illegal mines continue to be operational in Assam and other northeastern states. The Indian army, which is involved in the rescue efforts, said in a statement that its personnel had arrived at the site in the morning and were assisting the local administration. "Senior officials of the Indian army will also be reaching the site to coordinate with the civil administration," the statement said. The army's relief task force includes "divers, sappers, medical staff and necessary equipment", it added. On Monday evening, Assam Director General of Police GP Singh said the authorities were ascertaining the exact number of people trapped. Reports said more than a dozen miners had managed to escape and initial reports suggested that the "numbers would be in single digits". The mine is located in the hilly area of Dima Hasao district. Senior police official in the district, Mayank Kumar Jha, told Reuters that the area was very "remote" and "difficult to reach". Mine-related disasters are not uncommon in India's northeast. In December 2018, at least 15 men were trapped in an illegal mine in the neighboring state of Meghalaya after water from a nearby river flooded it. Five miners managed to escape but the rescue efforts for the others continued until the first week of March the following year. Only two bodies were recovered. In January 2024, six workers were killed after a fire broke out in a rat-hole coal mine in Nagaland state. — BBC
