NEW DELHI, Feb 5: At least 18 people were killed, and several laborers are feared trapped after an explosion occurred in a suspected ‘illegal’ coal mine at a village in East Jaintia Hills district in Meghalaya on Thursday, police said.

The East Jaintia Hills district police confirmed the recovery of 18 bodies from the mine. They further added that the laborers died after an explosion inside the mine that trapped them.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident. “Pained by the mishap in East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) quoted Mr Modi as saying in a post on X.

PM Modi announced that an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) would be provided to the next of kin of each deceased, while the injured would be given ₹50,000. The incident occurred in the Thangsku area, Superintendent of Police Vikash Kumar said.

The police have sought assistance from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) to carry out rescue operations at the site. “The SDRF team is yet to come,” Mr Kumar said. The explosion is suspected to have occurred during coal mining activities at the site, which is believed to be an ‘illegal’ operation.

Asked whether the mine was operating ‘illegally’, the police officer said, “Yes, it seems like that.” He said the cause of the explosion was yet to be ascertained, and an inquiry would be conducted. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had imposed a ban on rat-hole coal mining and other unscientific mining practices in Meghalaya in 2014, citing environmental damage and safety risks, while also restricting illegal transportation of coal extracted through such methods.

Rat-hole mining involves digging of narrow tunnels, usually 3-4 feet high, for workers to enter and extract coal. The horizontal tunnels are often termed “rat-holes” as each just about fits one person. The Supreme Court later upheld the ban and allowed mining only under scientific and regulated procedures with environmental safeguards.

(Rohit Kumar)