Fourth body recovered in Umrangso coal mine tragedy; rescue operations continue

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJanuary 11, 2025

Rescue operations at the 3 Kilo coal mine in Umrangso, Dima Hasao, Assam, continue as a fourth body was recovered on January 11.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Assam Rifles, have been working tirelessly to retrieve the trapped miners.

On January 11, at approximately 1305 hours, the NDRF team, led by Inspector R. K. Singh, retrieved the body of Suroj Oyori, aged 37, from the bottom of the mine. This brings the total number of bodies recovered to four, with three bodies being recovered today. Suroj Oyori was a resident of Village Thilapara, PO Panhuri, District Sonitpur, Assam.

One more body found from Umrangso coal mining site, eight still trapped

Earlier on January 8, the first body recovered was that of Ganga Bahadur Shreth, aged 38, son of the late Man Harbhajan Shreth. His body was retrieved at 8:45 AM from the coal mining site. Shreth was a resident of Rampur (Dummana-2 Bhijpur) under Thoksila police station in Udayapur district of Nepal and was among the miners trapped in the flooded coal quarry.

Additionally, earlier today, the NDRF recovered the body of Lijan Magar, aged 26, son of Dal Bahadur Magar, a resident of Assam Coal Quarry, Umrangso. The body was found at the bottom of the mine and handed over to the local police.

Rescue operations continue in full swing, with extensive dewatering efforts underway. The rescue team has dewatered seven meters inside the mine in the past three days. However, significant amounts of water still remain.