The Indian Navy on Sunday detected a skeleton on the 74th day of the operations to find the 15 miners who were trapped in a mine in Meghalaya on December 13, PTI reported. Two decomposed bodies had been spotted last month, but only one has been recovered so far.
The group of miners had got trapped after river water entered the illegal rat hole mine in East Jaintia Hills district. The Supreme Court had last month told the Centre and the state government to continue rescue operations, even though the state told the bench that the trapped miners may have died.
Multiple government agencies, including the National Disaster Response Force and the Indian Army, are involved in the rescue operations.
“The underwater ROV [remote-operated vehicle] of the Indian Navy on Sunday detected skeletons of the third miner deep inside the coal mine,” a senior district official told PTI. “Efforts are on to retrieve it.”
The remains were detected over 150 feet away from the bottom of the 370-foot-deep shaft.
Decomposed remains of a person that were found on January 26 had fallen apart during the attempt to pull it out, and have not been detected again yet. The remains that were found on January 17 were pulled out and the deceased was identified as Amir Hussain of western Assam.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!