Survey Ops Still On At Coal Mine Tragedy Site

SHILLONG: As pleaded by family members of the trapped miners that whatever remains of the miners trapped inside the coal mine be retrieved, rescuers said on Saturday that they are doing everything possible.

“The Indian Navy is trying its best with ROV after exploring every angle and photograph available to be captured,”a spokesperson of the rescue operation R Susngi said. It may be mentioned that a video showing the body of one of the miners was captured by the ROV on the evening of January 16, and the next day family members of the three missing miners from East Jaintia Hills and two from Chirang district of Assam were shown the body.

The families expressed their wishes that the body of one of the miners detected should be retrieved intact. Meanwhile, the rescuers have asked the other families of the missing victims to come and identify the body. The Indian Navy divers on Saturday operated their ROV on the main shaft where the 15 miners are trapped and their work is in progress, authorities said. The Coal India Limited also continued with dewatering in the two old shafts and ran their pumps for 22 hours each day since Friday evening till 5 pm on Saturday.

“After 44 hours, the water discharged is approximately 4989600 litres,” R Susngi, spokesperson of the rescue operation, said.

Meanwhile, the ROV in shaft number 4 also surveyed the area to identify rat holes. “The KSB pumped out water from the old shaft from yesterday evening till 5 pm, and the total discharged with a break of 4 hours for refuelling,” the spokesperson said.

Moreover, the NDRF continued to extend their assistance to other agencies with all the resources available. However, authorities are tightlipped about the fate of the body that was recovered on January 16.

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