Assam: Two More Decomposed Bodies Recovered from Umrangso Coal Mine

GUWAHATI: Two more bodies of the missing miners were retrieved from the coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district on Wednesday, 44 days after the incident.

With this, the death tally now stands at six of the nine miners who had remained trapped in the mine on January 6.

The dewatering process at the Umrangsho mine has been going on for more than a month. The divers found the highly decomposed bodies while searching and were able to retrieve them. But officials have not yet been able to confirm their identities.

The tragic accident occurred when nine miners were stuck deep in the coal mine. Two days after the accident, one body was retrieved from the mine and then three bodies on January 11. Currently, with two more bodies discovered, the search for the three remaining miners goes on.

The Assam government has also issued compensation to the families following the tragedy. The relatives of the four miners whose bodies had been recovered earlier have been paid an ex-gratia of Rs. 10 lakh per person.

Rs. 6 lakh each has been given to the families of those who remain trapped in the mine, and the government assured the payment of a total of Rs. 10 lakh to each family.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the dewatering process may take anything between 25 to 60 days more to finish. He assured that activities will go on until a 'logical conclusion' is made. The chief minister also disclosed that the mine was abandoned 12 years ago and was owned by the Assam Mineral Development Corporation until three years ago.

To probe into the accident, the Assam government has established a judicial inquiry, headed by retired high court judge Anima Hazarika. The investigation will try to find out why the accident occurred and ensure that there is accountability for the loss of lives in the tragic accident.

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