look news india
Bodies of three more miners trapped in a coal mine in Dima Hasao, Assam, were recovered during rescue operations on Saturday. According to officials, a total of four bodies have been recovered so far. The first body was recovered on Wednesday. These four miners were among the nine who were trapped due to sudden flooding of the mine at Umrangso on January 6.
Rescue operation information
The rescue operation was resumed, and three bodies were recovered on the sixth day, the official said. The first body recovered belonged to a miner from Nepal, who was pulled out on January 8. The three miners recovered during the day were identified as:
- Ligen Magar (27), Dima Hasao
- Khushi Mohan Rai (57), Kokrajhar
- Sarat Goyari (37), Sonitpur
According to officials, the bodies were found floating in water two days after water was drained from the mine. They were taken out by divers of the Army, Navy and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
Chief Minister’s reaction
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Vishwa Sharma gave information about the recovery of the bodies on social media. “Rescue operations are underway in Umrangso… Our thoughts are with the bereaved families,” he said. The Chief Minister also informed that this mine was closed 12 years ago and till three years ago it was under the Assam Mineral Development Corporation. He claimed that this was not an illegal mine, but the miners had entered the mine for the first time to extract coal.
political reactions
Regarding the alleged involvement of a family member of Dima Hasao Autonomous Council Chief Executive Member (CEM) Debolal Gorlosa in the incident, the Chief Minister said, “This is a human tragedy and we should not politicize it.”
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a SIT investigation into the mining tragedy. He alleged that “illegal mining continues unabated” in Assam and the SIT should investigate the illegal mining operations as well as identify those responsible for the tragedy.
