Meghalaya mine blast toll rises to 25, 2 arrested

Shillong/Guwahati: The death toll in Thursday’s dynamite explosion inside an illegal coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills climbed to 25 on Friday. East Jaintia Hills SP Vikash Kumar said four bodies were retrieved from the pit during the day while three others who were rescued in an injured state succumbed.Police have also arrested two persons in connection with the case.Eighteen bodies had been recovered immediately after the blast on Thursday.“Out of the recovered bodies, 17 have been identified so far and handed over to their kin after necessary legal formalities,” the SP said. He added, “So far, we have arrested two persons — Forme Chyrmang and Shamehi War. Both have been produced before the court and remanded in 3-day police custody.

Efforts are on to identify and apprehend other accused persons involved in the case.” Police have registered a suo motu FIR at Ksliehriat police station under BNS, Mine and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act and Explosives Substances Act.Search operations, involving the SDRF, NDRF and medical teams, were temporarily halted with nightfall, but officials warned the final casualty figure could rise further, with more miners feared trapped inside the illegal rat-hole mine at Mynsyngat-Thangsko under Umpleng police outpost.

The victims include two brothers from Nepal and six from Assam’s Barak Valley. Seven others injured in blast remain under treatment in hospitals in Meghalaya and Assam.Officials said the Army and the Air Force remain on standby as the district administration and the state disaster management authority continue to monitor the situation closely.Union home minister Amit Shah assured chief minister Conrad K Sangma of full support from the Centre in rescue operations.The Govt of Meghalaya has ordered a comprehensive inquiry into the incident with CM Conrad K Sangma asserting that accountability would be fixed, and those responsible would face strict legal action.Union coal and mines minister G Kishan Reddy termed the blast a result of illegal mining, stressing that no Government of India coal mines operate in Meghalaya. He has sought a detailed report from the state and urged all states to strictly enforce mining laws.The tragedy has once again exposed the deadly persistence of illegal coal mining in Meghalaya, banned by the National Green Tribunal in 2014 but still rampant in the state.According to a PTI report, the siblings from Nepal have been identified as Purna Bahadur Khapangi Magar (27) and Surendra Khapangi Magar (24), residents of Salghari Bhanjyang, Barahapokhari Rural Municipality, Khotang district. Both died instantly in the blast at the mine.Relatives at the site told PTI that three other workers from the same village were injured — Nar Bahadur (35), Bam Bahadur (45), and Karna Bahadur (40). The condition of Nar Bahadur and Bam Bahadur was reported critical. Another Nepali worker, Lalit Bahadur Magar of Udayapur district, also sustained injuries.Of the seven Nepalese labourers employed at the mine, only one, Tarabal Magar, escaped unhurt, who later phoned families back home to inform them of the tragedy. The group had left their village in Nepal on Dec 18 last year to seek employment in Meghalaya’s coal mines.