Trapped miners are safe, say naval divers

‘‘Hum sub theek hai (all of us are fine),’’ shouted the miners to the divers, sources said.

The five divers, who were flown in from Mumbai on Sunday morning, succeeded in reaching the miners at 4.30 p.m. after searching for an hour-and-a-half.The divers went into the mine at 2 p.m. and emerged with the news that they had managed to establish contact, sources said.

They, however, could not specify if all the 38 miners, including two officials of Bharat Coking Coal Limited’s colliery, were alive after 56 hours inside the pit.The navy divers re-entered the mine around 3 p.m after a ten-minute break.A medical team comprising 12 doctors also entered the pit with medicines and blankets.

More divers have been requisitioned from Visakhapatnam, and they’re expected to reach Dhanbad around midnight.

CIL Director (Technical) N.K. Sharma, Superintendent of Police Abdul Gani Mir and Deputy Commissioner Vinode Kispota were also at the pithead.