3 coal miners killed inside illegal rat hole mine at Ledo

Three persons allegedly involved in mining of coal from an illegal rat hole mine at Ledo in Assam have died due to suspected inhalation of toxic gas, police said on Monday.
The incident took place on Sunday night when the miners entered the rat hole mine run illegally on a remote hilltop in Tinsukia district near the Assam-Arunachal border to extract coal, Tinsukia superintendent of police Debojit Deuri told reporters.
The police have so far arrested five persons in this connection, he said. ‘’We arrested the five when they were trying to bury the bodies and hush up the incident. We will take stringent action against such illegal coal mining activities,’’ he said. It is suspected that there was methane leakage inside the mine which caused the miners’ deaths.
Their bodies have been sent for post mortem, Deuri said. The dead miners, all below the age of 30, have been identified. They are residents of Bongaigaon and Goalpara districts. The illegal rat hole mining, along with several others, are operated by a person named David Naga and the three miners were brought to work by a person who acted as the supplier of workers, according to an official. “Illegal rat hole mines have been mushrooming in Margherita and Ledo area of Tinsukia district. The coal smugglers run the whole nexus in a very organised manner with patronage from certain quarters,’’ he alleged.
Rat hole mining has been completely banned but it is still operated illegally in some areas of the region.