Meghalaya coal mine tragedy : Indian navy divers, 21 fire fighters with 10 high-powered pumps join rescue operation
Guwahati, Dec 29 (IBNS) : Indian navy divers and 21 fire fighters of Odisha Fire Services on Saturday joined the operation to rescue 15 miners trapped since December 13 inside a flooded rat-hole coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district .
A 15-member team of Indian navy divers on Saturday reached Ksan village near Lumthari area.
Apart from them, 21 fire fighters of Odisha Fire Services have reached the spot and engaged in the rescue operations.
The Indian Air Force on Friday had airlifted a 21-member team of Odisha Fire Services with 10 high-powered pumps and other equipment from Bhubaneswar to Guwahati to assist the operations to locate the 15 miners, who were trapped inside the flooded coal mine.
#Meghalaya: 15 members of @indiannavy diving team from Visakhapatnam reach accident site to assist in rescue operations. Exclusive visuals#KillerCoalMines#EastStory#NorthEastIndia pic.twitter.com/yjw5akIWxE
— EastMojo (@EastMojo) December 29, 2018
The pumps and other equipments have been transported by seven vehicles to East Jaintia Hills district.
The fate of the trapped miners remained unknown, while rescuers are struggling to locate them amid the surging water inside the 370-foot deep coal pit.
The Meghalaya government had suspended the rescue operations on December 24 after two pumps proved ineffective.
Over 100 personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and local police are engaged in the rescue operations, underwa since December 14.
According to the reports, at least 20 miners had entered the coal mine on December 13, but only five of them could manage to come out of it after water from multiple channels flooded the pit.
#MeghalayaMineTragedy #IndianNavy is deploying a 15 member diving team fm Visakhapatnam 2 assist in rescue ops for missing miners in Meghalaya. The team is carrying spl diving eqpmt incl a re-compression chamber & remotely operated vehicles capable of searching underwater 1/2 pic.twitter.com/9eaCqv3EVw
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) December 28, 2018
Earlier, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the incident and tweeted – “15 miners have been struggling for air in a flooded coal mine for two weeks. Meanwhile, PM struts about on Bogibeel Bridge posing for cameras. His government refuses to organize high-pressure pumps for the rescue. PM please save the miners.”
The National Green Tribunal banned unscientific and unsafe coal mining in Meghalaya in April, 2014.
(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)
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