Several miners trapped in coal mine in India’s Assam

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BENGALURU (Reuters) – Several miners are feared trapped inside a coal mine in a remote area in the north-east Indian state of Assam and the state has requested the army’s assistance in rescue operations, authorities said on Monday.

As of Monday evening, rescue operations were underway, and authorities were “ascertaining the exact number of people trapped,” Assam Director General of Police GP Singh told Reuters.

“As of now, input indicates that numbers would be in single digits. The State Disaster Response Force has been pressed into service,” he said.

The mine is in a remote area in Assam’s hilly Dima Hasao district. Local media reported the miners were trapped by flooding.

“We have requested the Army’s assistance in the ongoing rescue operation. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are also on their way to the incident site to aid in the efforts,” Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X.

The Dima Hasao district’s superintendent of Police (SP) and administrative head (Deputy Commissioner) were on their way to the spot.

Mayank Kumar Jha, Dima Hasao SP, told Reuters the area was very “remote” and “difficult to reach”.

Coal mine-related disasters in the remote northeastern part of India are not uncommon. In one of the biggest disasters, in 2019, at least 15 miners were buried while working in an illegal mine in the neighbouring state of Meghalaya after water from a nearby river flooded it.

(Tora Agarwala in Guwahati. Writing by Shanima A in Bengaluru. Editing by Mark Potter)