After Meghalaya tragedy, another illegal coal mine mishap kills 4 in Nagaland

Four miners have been killed following mudslides at an illegal coal mine at Yonglok village in Longleng district of Nagaland, police said Monday. The incident happened on Saturday when the four victims, all from Assam, had gone to the abandoned mine to collect their belongings.

They reportedly got stuck inside the open-cast mine on the Assam-Nagaland border following mudslides, police said. The mine was recently shut down following a state government order banning illegal coal mining and a provisional ban on licensed mining activity, police said.

The victims, hailing from upper Assam, have been identified as Jiten Tanti (40), Krishna Gogoi (32), Tutu Deka (28) and Shushan Phukon (37). Post-mortem was not done on the bodies at the request of the victims’ families. The bodies were delivered to the families after an undertaking.

The Nagaland incident has occurred within three months of the Meghalaya mine tragedy in which 15 miners were trapped in an illegal rat-hole mine in East Jaintia Hills district. Rescuers have been able to retrieve only two highly decomposed bodies from the quarry.

Recently, the teams of Indian Navy and Army have been recalled from the Meghalaya mine rescue operation to extract the bodies of 16 miners trapped in a rat-hole mine since December 13, 2018.

According to an official communique, the 15-member crew of the Navy, including specialist divers, and Army personnel, who were assisting local authorities in the rescue mission will return to their respective base on Saturday.