Assam Coal Mine Disaster: 24 Hours on Miners Trapped in Rat Hole Coal Mine, Rescue Operation Underway

Some of those trapped include workers from Darrang, Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts of Assam as well as from Nepal.

Even after 24 hours, around 15 coal miners are still trapped over 400 metres inside a rat hole coal mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao district.

As per inputs, a 40-member NDRF team has just reached the incident site to conduct rescue operations. Assam Rifles officials are also at the spot. Furthermore, Minister Kaushik Rai reached the site at 3:30 AM, and is supervising the rescue efforts.

Sources informed that 2 water pumps are being used to pump out the water which had suddenly entered the rat hole coal mine on Monday, trapping the miners inside.

The incident has been reported from Kalamati in Umrangso where several labourers are trapped inside the rat hole coal mine named Asom Quarry.

Police had earlier informed that the Sardar or Manager of the labourers is absconding following the incident. Some of those trapped include workers from Darrang, Kokrajhar and Sonitpur districts of Assam as well as from Nepal. Other workers at the site say around 50 people had entered the mine, while around 15 are still trapped.

The incident took place at 8 AM yesterday.

According to sources, sudden flow of large quantity of water from an unused nearby coal mine had seeped into the rat hole coal mine, trapping the miners and making it impossible for them to come out of the tiny coal mine.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has taken stock of the stituation in Umrangso, taking to social media Chief Minister Sarma said, “Distressing news from Umrangshu, where laborers are trapped in a coal mine. The exact number and status are yet unknown. The DC, SP, and my colleague, Shri Kaushik Rai, are rushing to the site. Praying to God for everyone’s safety.”

“We have requested the Army’s assistance in the ongoing rescue operation. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are also on their way to the incident site to aid in the efforts,” he added.

We have requested the Army’s assistance in the ongoing rescue operation. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are also on their way to the incident site to aid in the efforts. https://t.co/35ET3f80jr

— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) January 6, 2025

CM Sarma further released a list of the workers – Ganga Bahadur Shreth, a resident of Rampur in Nepal’s Udaypur district, Krishna Pada Sarkar hailing from Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal, Hussain Ali, Jakir Hussain and Mustafa Sheikh of Assam’s Darrang district in Assam, Sarpa Barman and Khushi Mohan Rai of Kokrajhar district in Assam, Lijan Magar of Dima Hasao district and Andul Goyary, a resident of Sonitpur district in Assam.

This is not the first time that miners have got trapped inside rat hole coal mines in the northeast.

On 13 December 2018, 15 miners died when an illegal “rat-hole” mine at Ksan got flooded by water from the Lytein river nearby. In the wake of the accident, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) fined the Meghalaya government Rs 100 crore for illegal coal mining.

3 miners died inside an illegal rat-hole coal mine after a landslide struck the Patkai Hills in eastern Assam’s Tinsukia district in May, 2024.

Again in January, 2024, 6 workers were charred to death and four others injured at a coal mine in Nagaland’s Wokha district.

The National Green Tribunal had banned rat-hole mining in 2014. However, coal is still extracted across northeast by following this dangerous method putting the lives of the miners at huge risk.

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