After Meghalaya mine tragedy, 4 killed in mishap at illegal coal mine in Nagaland

Kohima: Four miners have been killed following mudslides at an illegal coal mine at Yonglok village in Longleng district of Nagaland, police said on 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). A 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. 

The team of rescuers from the Navy and Army had on Friday announced to leave the operation site in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district after 60 days of searching the 15 miners trapped in a 370 feet-deep illegal coal mine.

The navy and the army informed local authorities about their decision to pack up and leave the operation on direction from their higher-ups, operations spokesperson R Susngi said.

However, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which has been engaged in the rescue operation since the day of the tragedy on December 13 last, will continue with their services.