SHILLONG: On Monday, The divers of Indian Navy will resume operation to get back the body of another miner trapped since December 13 inside the 370-foot-deep flooded coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district. On Saturday, The rescuers had found the body with the help of an underwater remotely operated vehicle (UROV) inside a rat-hole coal mine at Ksan village in Meghalaya`s East Jaintia Hills. The rescuers are yet to trace 13 more miners who remain trapped for 45 days now.

Rescue operations spokesperson Reginald Susngi said that "The Navy divers are trying to retrieve the second body detected inside the rat-hole mine but due to many obstacles which include exhaust pipes used by the coal miners inside the mine and turbidity of the water, the retrieval has become very difficult," "They (Navy) are making all efforts. Let us hope they will be able to pull out the body soon," he said.

While a 15-member team of Navy divers from Visakhapatnam spotted the second body with the help of the UROV inside the rat-hole coal mine but through complex maize of sub rat-hole mines. The UROV also stumbled on tell-tale signs like spades, a wooden cart and then located the dead miner.

The first body, of Amir Hussain from Assam’s Chirang district, spotted in the mine was handed over to the family members on Saturday morning. In a joint operation, the Navy and the NDRF dragged Hussain’s body out of the mine’s shaft on Thursday, after it was first spotted on January 17.

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On December 13, water from the nearby Lytein River flooded a network of tunnels in the illegal rat-hole coal mine in Lumthari village of East Jaintia Hills, trapping 15 men and prompting a multiple-agency rescue attempt. Nearly 200 rescue personnel from the NDRF, the Indian Navy, Odisha Fire Service and state agencies are involved in the search-and-rescue operation.

The Meghalaya government has released Rs 1 lakh interim relief for the families of the trapped miners. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is monitoring the rescue mission and the matter is scheduled to come up for hearing again on Monday.

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