Meghalaya: At least three helmets were recovered this morning from the site of the coal mine accident in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district where 15 miners are believed to be stranded for more than a fortnight.
The miners are trapped in a 370-feet deep illegal mine in Lumthari village in the district since December 13, when water from the nearby River Lytein flooded the mine.
Assistant Commandant Santosh Kumar Singh from the 1st Battalion of NDRF said: “Three helmets have been recovered.”
Earlier, the search operations had been called off by the Meghalaya government as high-pressure pumps to help in the rescue were not available with the State government. After the State government requested high-pressure pumps to drain out the water, a 15-member diving team of the Indian Navy from Vishakhapatnam left for Meghalaya on Friday with specialised equipment, including high-pressure pumps.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) also provided two aircraft to the Meghalaya government for airlifting specialist personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from Odisha for helping in the rescue operations. The Defence Ministry has said it is prepared to provide any help to the State government.
The IAF, Coal India Limited (CIL) and leading pump manufacturing company Kirloskar Brothers’ Limited had joined the rescue effort.