18 die in India coal mine blast, others feared trapped

The explosion occurred at an unregulated mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills area, Al Jazeera reports

At least 18 people have been killed in an explosion at an illegal coal mine in India’s northeastern state of Meghalaya, Al Jazeera reports.

Local police say they had pulled 18 bodies from the blast site in a remote section of the East Jaintia Hills district.

Eight others were wounded in the incident, according to local official Manish Kumar.

Other workers may still be trapped as it is unclear how many were at the scene at the time of the explosion.

Rescuers paused operations at sundown on Thursday and planned to resume their efforts on Friday with support from state and federal personnel, Manish said.

He described the site as an “illegal rat-hole mine”, with a deep, narrow shaft where workers risked hazardous conditions to extract coal and other minerals.

East Jaintia Hills police chief Vikash Kumar said dynamite likely caused the blast, but investigations were ongoing.

“It is likely that the workers died either from burn injuries or breathing issues because of the release of noxious fumes,” said Kumar in a statement carried by The Indian Express. “But because there is no one who has come out in a condition to tell us exactly what happened and how many workers were there in total, we do not have an estimation of how many more may be trapped.”

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma pledged authorities would hold those responsible for the disaster accountable and urged against illegal mining.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent his condolences to the families of the deceased, announcing a Rs 200,000 compensation package for each of them.

“Pained by the mishap in East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya,” his office wrote in a post on X.