At least 18 miners have died and one is severely injured after an explosion at an illegally-operated coal mine in India’s northeastern state of Meghalaya, police say.
Rescue operations are on and some people are still feared trapped, police say, adding that the blast occurred around 11:00 local time (5:30 GMT) on Thursday in the East Jaintia Hills of the state.
Superintendent of the state police Vikash Kumar told reporters that the accident happened due to rat-hole mining – a hazardous method which involves the use of dynamite to break open narrow tunnels through which workers crouch to extract coal.
Rat-hole mining has continued in the state despite a blanket ban in place, activists say.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced financial assistance of 200,000 rupees ($2,215, £1,636) for the deceased and 50,000 rupees for the injured.
The blast – which happened inside the mine – was suspected to be caused by dynamite, police say.
The mine was located in a forested area 72km (45 miles) away from state capital Shillong.
Kumar says 18 bodies have been recovered so far and one person with severe burn injuries has been admitted to a hospital in Shillong. He, however, says it is not yet clear how many more workers might be trapped underground.
The police are yet to identify the people who owned and operated the mine, while a case has been registered against unidentified people, Kumar says. They are also yet to ascertain identities of the victims.
“Accountability will be fixed, and those responsible will face strict legal action,” Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said in a statement.
Some locals, who say they had interacted with the miners recently, told reporters that most of those killed were from the neighbouring state of Assam.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: “If this is established, we will extend all possible assistance and support to the affected families from Assam.”
The blast is among the deadliest mining accidents in Meghalaya in recent years. In 2018, at least 15 miners were trapped after water from a nearby river filled a rat-hole mine, with rescue operations lasting months. While five miners escaped, bodies of two were later recovered – the rest were eventually assumed dead.
“Rat-hole mining, entailing digging holes about four to five feet in height, allowing an adult to squat and work, is highly risky,” Agnes Kharshiing, a Meghalaya-based activist and campaigner against illegal mining, told reporters.
Activists say illegal coal mining has continued in parts of Meghalaya despite a blanket banimposed by the country’s National Green Tribunal in 2014, a restriction later upheld by India’s Supreme Court. A monitoring committee appointed by a high court has repeatedly flagged enforcement failures in recent years.
Fatal accidents linked to illegal coal mining have been reported across several Indian states in recent years, including Gujarat, Jharkhand, Assam and West Bengal.
Officials and activists say high demand for coal, poverty in mining regions, weak enforcement in remote areas and alleged political patronage allow unsafe, unregulated mining to persist, often using rudimentary methods without safety equipment, leading to repeated loss of life.
By BBC News
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