Two months on, rescuers recover second body from Meghalaya mine

SHILLONG: National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indian Navy rescuers on Wednesday recovered a second body from the main shaft of the flooded coal mine at Khloo Ryngksan in Meghalaya’s East Jaiñtia Hills district.

The first body was recovered from the illegal mine on January 24 over a month after 16 miners were trapped when it was flooded on December 13.

Thousands of miners have been killed in illegal mines like these in Meghalaya in which workers crawl into narrow shafts on bamboo ladders to excavate coal despite a ban on unregulated mining in the state since 2014.

NDRF assistant commandant Santosh Kumar, who has overseen the rescue operations at the mine since December 14, said that it was a challenging task to retrieve the body.

“The body is intact but highly decomposed and beyond recognition. That is why we immediately handed it over to the district administration for further procedures,” Kumar said over phone. The body was sent to Khliehriat’s Civil Hospital for post mortem and other formalities. Five bodies have so far been spotted in the flooded mine.

“The first body was retrieved but the second one slipped the claws of the underwater remotely operated vehicle UROV. Then, a third body was spotted last Sunday and another the following day, but neither could be retrieved,” said Kumar.

He said four NDRF personnel and a Navy diver entered the mine’s main shaft about 1 pm on Wednesday along with an inflatable boat, body bags, and other equipment. Kumar added they located the body about 200 feet inside the mine with the help of the UROV after a “strenuous operation”. “Despite the inclement weather, all rescue teams are working continuously to try and locate and retrieve more bodies,” said Kumar.