The operation to rescue 15 people, trapped in a 320-foot-deep coal mine at Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills, entered its eighteenth day today. Nearly 200 rescuers from various agencies were stationed at the site. The Odisha Fire Service team had brought 10 high-powered pumps with them to pump the water out. A team leader from the Indian Navy and NDRF personnel went inside a 370-foot-deep mine to ascertain the water level inside on Sunday afternoon, officials said. A senior NDRF official said that the divers came out of the mine as the depth of water was too much, news agency ANI reported. "They dived till around 70 feet down but still have not been able to reach the ground level," SK Singh, Asst Commandant NDRF, told ANI. A Navy team will dive into the mine again tomorrow with "sophisticated equipment", he added.
The miners have been trapped in the mine in the Ksan area of Lumthari village in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district since December 13, after water from the nearby Lytein river gushed into it.
