Meghalaya coal mine tragedy: Two bodies spotted, Govt yet to receive official confirmation

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday informed that as per the preliminary report, two bodies were spotted in the coal mine. He, however, refused to share the details stating that the government is awaiting an official communication.

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SHILLONG:

Two bodies of the trapped miners have been spotted in a coal mine at Sutnga in East Jaintia Hills, though the government is yet to receive an official report on the latest findings.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday informed that as per the preliminary report, two bodies were spotted in the coal mine. He, however, refused to share the details stating that the government is awaiting an official communication.

“We only have to wait and see. The Navy and other teams are working day and night and we’ll see what results we get,” Sangma said.

Sources informed that the Navy divers dived again to the bottom and carried out mapping of the main shaft using ROV SONAR and could detect two suspicious objects. "The process of identification is under progress till filing of this report," sources said.

The rescue teams of NDRF and SDRF verified the level of the water before resuming the de-watering process and found risen by four feet due to the rain. 

"About 2.88 lakh liters of water has been pumped out from the main shaft and about 7.56 lakh liters of water from the 2nd shaft. No dewatering process took place today (Tuesday) as the navy is in operation," sources informed. 

The state government had earlier approached the Defence Ministry for naval support to rescue the miners trapped at a coal mine in East Jaintia Hills.

Five miners were trapped in a coal mine at Sutnga in East Jaintia Hills on the night of May 30, 2021, and the state government is still struggling with the rescue work to get them out from the mine.

The Meghalaya Human Rights Commission (MHRC) had registered a case against the incident and sought a detailed report on it from the government.

(Edited by Ibankyntiew Mawrie)

ALSO READ: Meghalaya Govt seeks help of Defence Ministry to rescue trapped miners

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