5 Still Trapped In Meghalaya Mine As Rise In Water Level Hits Rescue Work

Meghalaya: The coal mine was flooded after a dynamite explosion on Sunday. The water level increased due to incessant rainfall in the past 24 hours, an official said.

The water level inside a coal mine where five miners remain trapped in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district has risen by about 1 metre from the previously recorded depth due to heavy rainfall, impacting rescue efforts, an official said Friday. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Thursday had said that the water level was about 46 metres from the bottom of the 152-metre-deep pit. The level of water inside the vertical shaft of the mine, which is about 7 metres x 7 metres wide, has increased by about 1 metre from the previously recorded depth, district deputy commissioner E Kharmalki told PTI. At least 100 rescuers from the NDRF, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the Fire Service, are camping at the accident site waiting for the water level to come down by at least 10 metres because that is the maximum water level in which they can operate, a magistrate at the site said.