Search and rescue teams, including Navy personnel, retrieved the body of one miner trapped in the 500-foot-deep main shaft of the illegally-operated coal mine in Krem Ule, Umpleng, East Jaintia Hills, today.
Officials at the site informed that the body was recovered at around 12:40pm after Navy divers took about three hours to dive deep to the bottom of the pit. However, the victim has yet to be formally identified.
The recovery comes a day after the Indian Navy personnel spotted what appeared to be two bodies.
The Navy divers have been using a remotely-operated vehicle equipped with sonar to probe the flooded mine. The Navy personnel joined the National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Rescue Force (SDRF) teams last week to get to the miners from Assam, numbering at least five, who are feared dead after an explosion of dynamite sent waters rushing into rat-hole mine on May 30.
NDRF Guwahati Assistant Commandant, Santosh Kumar Singh, told Highland Post that the water level has gone up again to 150 feet today but, despite the rain, the Navy divers and the other rescue personnel have been doing a tremendous job, which led to the recovery of one of the bodies.
He informed that the operation began early in the morning when the water was less turbid.
Meanwhile, East Jaiñtia Hills Deputy Commissioner, Ethelbert Kharmalki informed that the recovery operation will continue despite rainfall making things difficult. He said that the water level inside the pit continues to rise but 10 water pumps have been pressed into service to drain out the two shafts.
The DC was also optimistic that other recoveries will be made.
