Guwahati15 minutes ago
Employees installing the machine brought from Nagpur, Maharashtra. This may take 24 hours.
On January 6, a 300 feet deep coal mine was flooded in 3 Kilo Umrangso area in Dima Hasao district of Assam. Due to which the rat hole miners working there got trapped. The body of one of them was found on Wednesday. The rescue operation for the remaining 8 laborers continues on Friday also.
Coal India has ordered a 500 GPM (gallon per minute) pump from Nagpur to pump out water from the Umrangso coal mine in Assam. The work of installing this pump is still going on.
According to K Mere, General Manager of Northeastern Coal Field, the installation work will continue for 24 hours in three shifts. It can extract 500 gallons of water in a minute.
Throughout the day on Thursday, Navy divers with remote operated vehicles and cameras kept searching for workers in the tunnels of the mine, but no signal of life was found there.
On January 6, after filling the tunnel with water, laborer Riyaz Ali, who returned alive due to understanding, talked to Bhaskar. He told that as soon as the water came, he lay down straight, due to which the pressure of the water threw him out.
Riyaz Ali’s story…
We 40-42 workers had entered the mine at 8 am on Monday morning. Everyone came down and started digging tunnels. These are very deep and very little wide, so we go inside them one by one. There were 4 laborers inside from my camp. I was taking out coal when I heard the loud sound of water coming inside. Some of my friends were digging much further into the tunnels. Whereas the sound of some laborers shouting was coming from outside. I ran from the tunnel to the path leading to the main hole of the mine, but was afraid, so I got stuck in the tunnel itself. My helmet fell down and the lights went off. Nothing was visible. Thankfully, the next moment I thought of lying down straight in the tunnel. I had heard about this from mining experts many years ago. In such a situation, to come out of the water, you have to leave yourself loose and lie down in the tunnel, then the pressure of the water throws you out. I remembered the person above and closed my eyes and lay down straight in the tunnel, holding my breath. After a few seconds, water came from inside the tunnel so fast that I came out of the tunnel with pressure and fell on the bottom of the mine. I moved my hands and legs and came up into the water. Saw that there were some other laborers also there. The rope of the crane that takes us in and out of the mine was hanging nearby. I caught him. I have injuries all over my body. Thankfully, life was saved.
See 2 pictures of the rescue operation…
Navy’s ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) was sent inside the tunnel. The ROV is capable of taking photographs and is equipped with sonar waves. However, nothing was visible in it.
2 arrests so far in mine accident
Assam Police has detained a person for questioning in connection with the mine accident. Its name is Hanan Laskar. Hanan was made manager by the mine owner. He also looked after the payment of the labourers. Hanan had fled immediately after the incident. Hanan was arrested after a search operation on Thursday night. In this case, the police had earlier arrested Punush Nunisa in this case.
Currently 12 pumps are pumping out water, but the level has not reduced
NDRF Deputy Commander NK Tiwari said that we will first take out all the water and only then the divers will go inside. Currently, two heavy pumps are working 24 hours to take out the water filled in the tunnel. 10 pumps have also been procured from five nearby mines and installed. So far we have searched vertically. But nothing has been found. We are moving forward with the extraction of water from the mine. The water level has only increased, not decreased.
Names of workers trapped in Umrangso coal mine
- Hussain Ali, Bagribari, Thana Shyampur, District: Darrang, Assam
- Zakir Hussain, 4 No. Sialmari Khuti, Thana Dalgaon, District: Darrang, Assam
- Sarpa Barman, Khalisnimari, Thana Gosaigaon, District: Kokrajhar, Assam
- Mustafa Sheikh, Bagribari, PS Dalgaon, Dist: Darrang, Assam
- Khusi Mohan Rai, Majergaon, Thana Fakirgram, District: Kokrajhar, Assam
- Sanjit Sarkar, Raichenga, District: Jalpaiguri, West Bengal
- Lijan Magar, Assam Coal Mine, PS Umrangso, Dist: Dima Hasao, Assam
- Sarat Goyari, Thilapara, Batashipur, Post Office Panbari, Dist: Sonitpur, Assam
Wife arrives to collect body of laborer killed in mine
Ganga Bahadur Shreth, a resident of Nepal, died in a coal mine accident. His body was taken out on Wednesday. His wife Sushila Rai Sonuru has reached the spot to collect the body. Sushila, mother of three children, said that Ganga was the sole breadwinner of her family.
15 rat hole miners were killed in 2018 also
A similar accident took place in East Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya in 2018. Where 15 laborers were trapped and died in the coal mine. On December 13, 20 miners had entered a 370 feet deep mine, out of which 5 workers had come out before filling with water. 15 laborers could not be saved.
