TURA: Four coal labourers were buried alive after their mine caved in at Gare Gittim area of Nangalbibra on Tuesday morning.
The miners identified as Ratna Barman (38), Debokantho Barman (32), Bishwanath Barman (30) and Piterson Marak were extracting coal when the walls of the cave gave in bringing down tons of soil and mud onto them.
However, the mine operator reported the matter to Nangalbibra police station, 12 km away, only in the evening leading to a delay in rescue operations.
The mine was being run by one Renzi Lama Sherpa, informed Nangalbibra police.
Police have retrieved the bodies of three miners who perished in the cave. All three belonged to neighbouring state of Assam.
Efforts were being continued to recover the body of the last miner, Marak, who remained buried inside the cave. He has been identified as a local from Nangalbibra.
