Assam: 3 Trapped in Illegal Rat-Hole Mine for Second Day

GUWAHATI: In a tragic incident, at least three people are still stuck inside an illegal coal mine in Assam’s Tinsukia district for the second day in a row.

Officials are working to rescue them, but there are concerns that they may have died. The deaths can only be confirmed once their bodies are received.

A rescue operation is underway to find the three coal miners trapped in a rat-hole mine in the Patkai hills in the Ledo area of Tinsukia. However, even after 48 hours, they have not been found.

The three victims are identified as Dawa Cherpa from Nepal, John and Fenaal from Meghalaya who went inside the rat-hole mine while a fourth person was assisting them in coal transportation.

The incident occurred around 12:30 am on Sunday when the rat-hole mine collapsed due to a sudden landslide. There are suspicions that the three coal miners are already dead, buried under the rubble.

Local organizations strongly criticized the police for not arresting the coal mafias involved in the illegal coal extraction.

A local resident alleged that that everyone is aware of the rat-hole mining operations in the Patkai hills. They claimed that the police have been under the control of the coal mafias most of the time. The resident further stated that illegal coal mining poses a serious threat to biodiversity.

He mentioned that it was not the first incident, citing a similar occurrence in the Patkai hills previously. He criticized the district administration for failing to apprehend the culprits involved in rat-hole mining.

Tinsukia District Commissioner Swapneel Paul stated that the three coal miners were still missing. He said that one team each from the NDRF and SDRF, along with local rescue workers, were attempting to locate the missing miners.

Excavators were also used to dig through the rubble to find them, the DC further stated, adding that no case has been registered yet, and no arrests have been made.

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