SHILLONG, Feb 6: The death toll due to Thursday’s explosion in the illegal coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills mounted further on Friday, with four more bodies recovered from the site of the blast and one injured victim succumbing at hospital. Eighteen bodies were recovered on Thursday.
Rescue teams comprising the NDRF, SDRF and SRT recovered one additional body from the coal mine earlier in the day, taking the total number of bodies retrieved from the site to 19.
In a separate development, one of the nine victims admitted to the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) died this afternoon.
Officials said Nor Bahadur (35), who had sustained over 80 per cent burn injuries, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.
Out of the nine admitted at NEIGRIHMS, two — Raju Tamang and Jamil Ahmed — remain in critical condition and are on ventilator support with 75 to 80 per cent burn injuries. The remaining injured have been shifted to the ward but are not out of danger.
Relatives of the victims at NEIGRIHMS declined to comment. Some reacted angrily when approached, stating they did not wish to speak.
Security personnel at the hospital did not permit media persons to take photographs of the relatives or patients inside the premises. Hospital authorities were contacted, but by the time a response was received, the families had refused to engage with the press.
