SHILLONG: The Indian Navy on Monday located a fourth body, completely decomposed, in the rat-hole coal mine at Ksan in East Jaintia Hills district where 15 miners were trapped after it was flooded on December 13 last year.
The body was detected by the Navy’s underwater remotely-operated vehicle (ROV), which had on Saturday night located another.
So far, only one body has been brought out and handed over to the victim’s family. The second body was detected on January 26, but it had slipped from the ROV’s grip and has remained traceless since. On the other hand, officials said the third body, which the ROV detected on Saturday night, was in a highly decomposed state and would completely disintegrate if attempt was made to bring it out.
Official sources on Monday said the fourth body was detected at 230 feet at 4:32 pm. A wooden cart was also located about 20 feet short of the body.
Meanwhile, teams from Coal India Limited, Kirloskar Brothers Limited and KSB continue to pump out water from the abandoned mine.
