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5 feared dead in coal mine

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SHILLONG, May 31: Five labourers – four from Assam and one from Tripura – were feared dead inside a coal mine in East Jaintia Hills following a dynamite blast that caused flooding.
The incident, which occurred on Sunday evening, brought back the memories of similar mishaps in the coal-rich district in the past.
The East Jaintia Hills police identified three trapped mine workers as Abdul Karim, Abdul Kalam (both from Assam) and Shyamcharan Debbarma from Tripura. The two unidentified workers are from Silchar in Assam’s Cachar district.
East Jaintia Hills Superintendent of Police, Jagpal Singh Dhanoa said based on the information received from his Cachar counterpart, Nimbalkar Vaibhav Chandrakant about six workers being trapped in the coal mine, the East Jaintia Hills police identified the probable site of incident at 6 am on Monday.
“The delay in identification of the probable site was due to inclement weather, poor night light condition and non-availability of any eye witness account. Higher authorities were appraised of the probable incident and in collaboration with district administration, search and rescue operation was launched,” Dhanoa said in a statement.
He said a team from the State Disaster Response Force also reached the site of incident.
Stating that the search and rescue operation was on under the supervision of the Inspector General of Police (Law & Order), he said six persons had come forward with eyewitness accounts. According to them, five persons got trapped in the sudden rush of water inside the mine shaft due to the sudden dynamite explosion. Within no time, the mine was inundated, he said.
The SP said the main culprit, as per the eye witnesses, is the mine’s “Sordar” Nizam Ali who did nothing to rescue the trapped labourers. Instead, Ali threatened the survivors with dire consequences and chased them away from the mining site, the SP said quoting the eye witnesses.
An FIR was registered with the Khliehriat Police Station under various Sections of the IPC, the MMDR Act and the Disaster Management Act.
“The survivors are being looked after by the police to ensure their security. Further investigation is on and no stone is being left unturned to arrest the Sordar of the mine,” Dhanoa said.
One person was detained by the police for questioning.
“Unfortunately, he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is being kept under guard at an isolation centre at Khliehriat,” Dhanoa said.
Home Minister, Lahkmen Rymbui said the person detained by the police is the mine’s previous owner, K Chyrmang.
“The police are trying their best to locate the Sordar, who is on the run. We will be able to get the details only after Chyrmang and the Sordar are interrogated,” Rymbui added.
He clarified that Ali was addressed as Sordar and was acting as the middleman between the coal mine owner and the labourers.
The last such incident in the state took place in East Jaintia Hills in January this year that left six labourers from Assam dead. In a similar incident in December 2018, at least 17 labourers were killed at Ksan, also in East Jaintia Hills.

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