After 44 days, bodies of 5 miners trapped inside rat-hole coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao recovered

GUWAHATI: After 44 days, the bodies of the remaining five miners, who were trapped inside the flooded rat-hole coal mine at 3 Kilo Umrangso area in Assam’s Dima Hasao district, were recovered by rescue teams on Wednesday.

Nine miners were trapped inside the coal mine on January 6 after water suddenly entered the mine and rat-hole coal mine got flooded. Earlier, the rescue teams of NDRF, Indian army, Indian Navy, SDRF, and Assam Rifles recovered four bodies.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X, “Today, the dewatering of the Umrangso mines was completed to a level where retrieval operations could be launched. The mortal remains of the remaining 5 miners have been recovered and brought up from the mine shaft. The process to identify the remains has been initiated”.

Specialist troops of #IndianArmy and #AssamRifles under #SpearCorps, in coordination with officials from #NDRF, #SDRF, @assampolice, assisted @mygovassam in recovering the mortal remains of miners in Kalamati, Umrangso in Dima Hasao, #Assam.

Divers of #IndianArmy undertook… pic.twitter.com/eJhgWQO8UJ

— SpearCorps.IndianArmy (@Spearcorps) February 20, 2025

The first body — Ganga Bahadur Shreth from Nepal — was recovered from the mine on January 8, and the next three bodies — Lijen Magar (27) from Kalamati village in Umrangso; Khusi Mohan Rai (57) from Magergaon in Kokrajhar, Assam, and Sarat Goyary (37) from Thailapara in Sonitpur, Assam — were recovered on January 11. On February 19, the bodies of the remaining five miners were recovered by the rescue teams. Earlier, the Assam government had given ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next kin of the 9 miners.

The tragic mining accident in Assam’s Dima Hasao has left families of the deceased in a state of despair. Junu Pradhan, the grieving wife of 27-year-old Lijen Magar, is struggling to come to terms with the loss of her husband, the sole breadwinner of their family. With a two-month-old baby to care for, Junu is uncertain about their future, feeling “totally helpless”.

“He (Lijen Magar) was the only earning source of our family. I have a two-month-old child and I don’t know what will be our future. I am now totally helpless”, Junu Pradhan said .Lijen Magar was among nine workers who were trapped inside the inundated rat-hole coal mine after water entered the mine on January 6. (ANI)