Shillong, Jun 9: The five miners, who are feared trapped inside a 500-feet flooded coal mine at Umpleng village East Jaintia Hills district for ten days now are yet to be traced despite ongoing efforts to ‘rescue’ them, chief minister Conrad K Sangma said on Wednesday.
“We have not come out with positive results as of now but the rescue teams are trying their best to rescue the trapped miners,†Sangma said.
He said that the government has asked the district administration as well as other agencies, including NDRF to also pitch in but according to him the conditions are very difficult out there.
Meanwhile, East Jaintia Hills district officials said that the National and State Disaster Response Forces confirmed that the level of the water inside the main shaft of the coal pit receded to about 30 feet and 4.50 lakh litre of water has been pumped out from the main shaft and 2.16 lakh litres of water from the second shaft as on date.
“Additional water pumps have been installed in the main shaft and de-watering of the mine is in full swing,†an official, overseeing the rescue operations, said.