Dima Hasao (Assam) [India], January 9 : Assam Mines and Minerals Minister Kaushik Rai confirmed on Wednesday that so far only one body has been recovered from the mine, as teams from the Army and Navy work to rescue trapped miners. Efforts are underway to dewater the mine to determine the number of people trapped inside.
Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Rai said, "One body is recovered. An Army team has again dived in (in the mine). The Navy team will also go. We have started the process of dewatering the mine... A few people are saying that 10-12 people are trapped. When the water level decreases, we will be in the position to tell the exact number."
HPS Kandari, Commandant of the 1st Battalion, NDRF, said, "A deep-diver team of the Indian Navy has entered into the 300-foot-deep coal mine." The NDRF commandant further informed that a heavy water pump from Coal India has arrived at Silchar airport and will move to the site soon.
Earlier today, Inspector Roshan Kumar Singh, team commander of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), confirmed that despite searching the vertical area and using heavy pumps to remove water, the water level has not decreased at the mining accident site. The operation, supported by Sonar equipment, is ongoing as water continues to flow into the mine, hindering progress.
Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "We have searched the vertical area but haven't been able to find anything. We are proceeding further with taking out water from the mine... The water level has only increased and not decreased. This is a joint operation of the Navy, NDRF, and Indian Army."
He also added, "The Indian Navy team, Indian army and NDRF have jointly started the search & rescue operation with the help of sonar equipment for the third day at the coal mine site."
The NDRF said that two pumps were being used to drain water from the site and the process will continue allowing a manual search to begin once the water is removed.
A joint rescue operation of the Indian Army, Assam Rifles, NDRF, SDRF teams and other agencies has been underway to rescue 8 people who have been trapped in a coal mine at 3 Kilo, Umrangso area since January 6.