Bodies of five miners who had been trapped in a flooded coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district for 44 days were finally recovered on Wednesday by rescue teams.
Nine miners got trapped inside the coal mine on January 6 after water suddenly entered and flooded it.
Four bodies had already been recovered in the rescue operation which was being carried out by teams from the NDRF, Indian Army, Indian Navy, SDRF, and the Assam Rifles had been used.
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma shared an update on X, stating, “Today, the dewatering of the Umrangso mines was completed to a level where retrieval operations could be launched. The mortal remains of the remaining 5 miners have been recovered and brought up from the mine shaft. The process to identify the remains has been initiated.”
The first body was found on January 8, followed by three more on January 11.
The Assam government had also announced earlier that it would provide a compensation amount of ₹10 lakh to the families of the nine miners.
The first one to be found, on January 8, was Ganga Bahadur Shreth of Nepal, while the other three were Lijen Magar, 27, of Umrangso's Kalamati village; Khusi Mohan Rai, 57, of Magergaon in Kokrajhar, Assam; and Sarat Goyary, 37, of Thailapara in Sonitpur, Assam-All were recovered on January 11.
{{/usCountry}}The first one to be found, on January 8, was Ganga Bahadur Shreth of Nepal, while the other three were Lijen Magar, 27, of Umrangso's Kalamati village; Khusi Mohan Rai, 57, of Magergaon in Kokrajhar, Assam; and Sarat Goyary, 37, of Thailapara in Sonitpur, Assam-All were recovered on January 11.
{{/usCountry}}Junu Pradhan, the wife of 27-year-old Lijen Magar, is struggling to come to terms with the loss of her husband, who was the sole breadwinner of their family.
Lijen Magar is survived by a two-month-old baby as well.
"He [Lijen Magar] was the only earning source of our family. I have a two-month-old child and I don't know what will be our future. I am now totally helpless," news agency ANI quoted Junu Pradhan.