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Rescue efforts continued for the fourth day on Sunday at the illegal coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district, where a blast killed 27 people.on Thursday, police said.

Search and rescue operation underway after an explosion in an illegal coal mining site at Thangsku area, in East Jaintia Hills district, Meghalaya, Friday (PTI)Eighteen bodies of mine workers were pulled out by rescue workers from the illegal mine in Mynsyngat–Thangskai area of East Jaiñtia Hills district on Thursday. Seven bodies were recovered on Friday and two more on Saturday taking the toll to 27.

“Several teams from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), search and rescue personnel from Meghalaya Police and local police personnel are engaged in the operation to trace workers who were trapped in the mine. The exercise will continue on Monday as well,” said Vikash Kumar, superintendent of police, East Jaintia Hills.

Within hours of the incident on Thursday, the district police arrested two people in connection with operating an illegal mine using rat-hole mining, a hazardous method that involves digging narrow horizontal tunnels, usually three to four feet high, to enter and extract coal.

The practice, common in parts of Meghalaya, has been officially banned for more than a decade.

Kumar said the investigators were searching for five more people responsible for operating the mining site.

“Arrests of these persons are crucial to establish how exactly the blast took place, get details of how many people may have entered the mine on the day of the incident and also know how many more could still be inside,” said Kumar.

Based on the statement by two workers before their death, and their preliminary investigation, the district police have surmised that the incident took place following a dynamite blast inside the mine, which appeared to have ignited methane gas in the mine, leading to a fire following the blast.

Elsewhere in the district, the police have cracked down on illegal mines and seized detonators, gelatine sticks and illegally mined coal.

“In the past three days, action at such sites has led to the recovery of 204 gelatine sticks, 175 metric tonnes of illegally extracted coal and 60 detonators. So far, 30 cases related to illegal coal mining, transportation, and coal dumps have been registered. Three persons have also been arrested in these cases,” said Kumar.

According to the police, there are about 500 rat-hole mines in the area.

Utpal is a Senior Assistant Editor based in Guwahati. He covers seven states of North-East India and heads the editorial team for the region. He was previously based in Kathmandu, Dehradun and Delhi with Hindustan Times.Read More