18 killed, several feared trapped after explosion in Meghalaya rat-hole mine

The incident took place in an illegally operating rat-hole mine in a forested area of Thangsku, and authorities received information about it at around 8.45 on Thursday morning.

SP Kumar said it appears to be a rat-hole mine, which entails digging low horizontal tunnels, either on hill slopes or branching out of a vertical pit dug for the purpose, usually only three to four feet high, which workers enter to extract coal.

According to police, they received information on Thursday morning about an explosion in a coal mine in Mynsyngat.

“Upon verification, it was confirmed that an explosion had taken place inside an illegal coal mine, and several persons were suspected to be trapped. Rescue and disaster response operations were initiated without delay,” said a statement by police.

“It is likely that the workers died either from burn injuries or breathing issues because of the release of noxious fumes. This will be ascertained through postmortems. But because there is no one who has come out in a condition to tell us exactly what happened and how many workers were there in total, we do not have an estimation of how many more may be trapped,” the SP said, adding that the identities of the deceased have not yet been ascertained.

Police registered an FIR under charges including culpable homicide, violation of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act and the Explosive Substances Act.

The Meghalaya government has announced an ex gratia payment for the next of kin of each of the deceased.

“Profoundly saddened by the tragic coal mine incident in East Jaintia Hills. My deepest sympathies are with the families who have lost their loved ones in this unfortunate tragedy. The government of Meghalaya has ordered a comprehensive inquiry into the incident. Accountability will be fixed, and those responsible will face strict legal action. There will be no compromise when it comes to the safety of lives,” said Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma in a statement.

The incident comes a little over a year after another major tragedy in an illegally operating rat-hole mine in Assam’s Dima Hasao district, in which nine miners died after being trapped in the tunnels when the mine flooded. In 2018, yet another tragedy had taken place in East Jaintia Hill when 15 workers were trapped in a rat-hole mine and died there. Rat-hole mining is a banned practice, but continues to be rampant in the coal-rich belts of Meghalaya and Dima Hasao despite repeated loss of lives in such incidents.