Guwahati: With three more people succumbing to injuries, the death toll in the illegal rat-hole coal mine blast in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district rose to 30.
Two deaths occurred at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital in Assam, while another died at the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences in Shillong.
A few other injured miners are undergoing treatment in the two states.
Eighteen bodies were retrieved from the mine in the Mynsngat-Thangsko area on the day of the incident. Later, eight more bodies were recovered, including two returned by family members. Another injured person had succumbed to injuries.
The search and rescue operations, which were launched by agencies including the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force on the day of the incident, were called off on Monday following an assessment.
The persons who lost their lives in the explosion, were from Meghalaya, Assam, and Nepal.
Meghalaya Police said an investigation into the incident was ongoing. Two alleged owners of the mine, arrested by the police, were taken to the blast site for the reconstruction of the crime scene.
The state government has already announced the constitution of a judicial commission to probe the incident, and launched a crackdown on illegal mining activities in the coal-rich district.
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said the commission would conduct a detailed investigation to ascertain the circumstances leading to the tragedy.
The government took the decisions as various organisations, activists and opposition parties were going for its jugular for allowing illegal coal mining to thrive in the state.
The National Green Tribunal had in 2014 imposed a ban on rat-hole mining of coal and its transportation in Meghalaya, concerned over rampant, unregulated, and unsafe mining practices. Despite the ban, the illegal activities continued.
There have been several incidents of coal mine mishaps in the past in Meghalaya that is endowed with the finest qualities of coal. High daily wages, which could go up to Rs 2,000, draw a lot of people, especially from Assam, to the Meghalaya mines.