After discovering the body of five men trapped inside a flooded fuel plant in India’s north-eastern state of Assam, volunteers have called off a 44-day search function.
A condition official told the BBC that DNA testing may be carried out to identify the men because the body are decomposed.
On 6 January, nine miners were trapped after water flooded the so-called “rat-hole” mine, which is a narrow hole dug manually to extract coal.
Within the first week, four systems were recovered, and the research had persisted until Wednesday, when the remaining bodies were discovered.
On the social media platform X, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that” the process to discover the bones has been started.
The miners ‘ people have also been contacted to help identify the body. They will be given payment by the state government, said Riki Phukan, an national from Assam’s District Disaster Management Authority.
Specific crisis forces conducted the research operations at the Umrangso coal plant in Assam’s Dima Hasao area in collaboration with the Indian Army, Indian Navy, state police, and district disaster expert.
Fishermen and helicopters were likewise dispatched, but the mine’s remote, steep terrain had created significant challenges.
Earlier, one of the men rescued from the mine had shared with the BBC a harrowing account of the moments after the tunnel was suddenly engulfed by water.
When water entered the plant, worker from Nepal Ravi Rai claimed to be working inside the plant.
” We were holding on to a rope in 50-60ft ( 15-18m ) deep water for at least 50 minutes before being pulled out”, he said.
Despite a moratorium on “rat-hole” mine in India since 2014, little illegal mining continue to be operational in Assam and other north-eastern state.
In a rat-hole coal plant in Nagaland state, a fire that broke out in January 2024 claimed the lives of six employees.
After waters from a local river flooded an illegitimate me in Meghalaya in 2018, at least 15 people were trapped inside.
Police in Assam have announced they are looking into illegal mining operations in the position following the recent injury.