Race against time: Nine miners trapped in mine after accident

Umrangso (Assam/India) - A serious mining accident in India : nine miners have been trapped in a remote coal mine since Monday. Rescue work is in full swing - but time is running out.

The shaft was suddenly flooded.
The shaft was suddenly flooded.  © Directorate of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence, Govt of India

It is a race against time.

Following a serious mining accident in the eastern Indian state of Assam, the emergency services are facing major challenges.

In a remote coal mine in the district of Dima Hasao, a sudden inrush of water occurred on Monday morning, reports The Hindu newspaper. At the time of the accident , up to 20 miners are said to have been in the damaged mine and nine are still missing.

However, the mine is located in an area that is difficult to access. It was only hours after the first emergency call that teams with special tools arrived at the site of the accident. The pumps have been running at full speed ever since. In the meantime, naval divers and engineers from the Indian army have arrived on site. Soldiers from the elite Assam Riles unit and helicopters are also supporting the rescue work.

"The mine was flooded yesterday - the source was inside," Mayank Kumar, district police chief in Dima Hasao, told the Reuters news agency. He suspects that the miners struck an underground water vein and were surprised by the ingress of water.

The pit must have filled up within a few minutes. The water level in the flooded mine was 30 meters in the meantime.

The area around the remote mine is difficult to access.
The area around the remote mine is difficult to access.  © Directorate of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence, Govt of India
Divers from the Indian army get ready.
Divers from the Indian army get ready.  © Directorate of Public Relations, Ministry of Defence, Govt of India
Rescue workers abseil down into the disaster mine.
Rescue workers abseil down into the disaster mine.  © Eastern Command, Indian Army

Accident at coal mine in Assam claims at least three lives

In a situation update on Tuesday morning, the rescuers then announced that three bodies had been discovered in the flooded coal mine. The bodies have not yet been recovered.

The rescue work is continuing. But the chances of finding the remaining six men alive are getting slimmer and slimmer.

Miners die far too often in mining accidents. In November 2023 , for example, eleven people died in a South African mine after a technical fault occurred in a lift. In the summer of 2024, 74 miners were trapped in a serious mining accident in Poland and one miner died.