5 Missing Miners Bodies Recovered After 44 Days in Flooded Coal Mine

Mar. 15, 2025

Divers enter a flooded pit in a coal mine using a pulley, to rescue trapped miners in Umrangso, in the Dima Hasao district of India’s northeastern state of Assam on January 7, 2025.Photo:AFP via Getty

AFP via Getty

After over a month, the remaining five missing miners’ bodies were recovered from a flooded coal mine in India’s north-eastern state of Assam on Wednesday, Feb. 19,BBC,The Economic TimesandIndian Expressreport.

The discovery of the five bodies follows the Jan. 6 incident when nine miners were trapped after water flooded the narrow hole. The hole was called a “rat hole” and was dug up manually to extract coal.

The bodies have not been identified; DNA tests will be conducted to identify the decomposed remains, said a state official, per the BBC. The first four bodies were recovered within a week.

The first dead body was recovered two days into the rescue mission, and three days later, on Jan. 11, the other three were found. The search continued for another 39 days to find the remaining five.

The rescue operation was conducted with help from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State DRF, the Indian Navy and the Indian Army.

The nine victims were Ganga Bahadur Shresth, 38, Hussain Ali, 30, Jakir Hussain, 38, Sarpa Barman, 46, Mustafa Seikh, 44, Khusi Mohan Rai, 57, Sanjit Sarkar, 35, Lijan Magar, 26, and Sarat Goyary, 37.

Indian search teams including military divers worked on January 7, to reach several coal miners trapped underground after water flooded the shaft a day earlier.AFP via Getty

At the time of the incident, nearly 40 workers illegally entered the “rat hole” mine when the water began to flood. Twenty-five of the miners successfully escaped the 310-foot-deep mine.

Ravi Rai, one of the men rescued from the mine, toldBBC, “We were holding on to a rope in 50-60ft (15-18m) deep water for at least 50 minutes before being pulled out.” Adding, “We [slipped] back into the water again, but we managed to escape.”

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“Rat-hole” mining was ruled illegal in India beginning in 2014. Despite that, the small illegal mines are still operational in the north-eastern Indian states.

Due to the Jan. 6 incident, Assam authorities are investigating illegal mining activities, per the BBC.

source: people.com