Body of one of 15 trapped Meghalaya miners found by naval divers

The body of one of the 15 mine workers trapped inside a coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district was found by a team of Navy personnel on Thursday, Navy officials said.

The body was brought to the mouth of the rat-hole mine, they said adding the rescue operations were going on.

The officials said the body was spotted inside the rate-hole mine and naval divers brought it to its mouth.

"One body detected by Indian Navy divers using an underwater ROV (remotely operated vehicle) at a depth of approx 160 feet and 210 feet inside a rat-hole mine," the Navy spokesperson said in a tweet.

The body has been pulled up to the mouth of the mine and will be extracted out under the supervision of doctors.

The body has been detected 32 days after the miners were trapped inside the mine on December 13 due to water gushing inside the mine.

Five miners managed to escape and alert people about the tragedy at Ksan village, about 130 km from Shillong.

Rescue efforts are on to salvage the remaining 14 miners.

The Meghalaya government has roped in several central agencies including a team from Hyderabad-based National Geophysical Research Institute and Chennai-based Planys Technologies in the rescue operation.

Coal India Limited, Odisha firefighters, Kirloskar Brothers Limited are dewatering the abandoned coal mine shafts and the main shaft where the miners are trapped.

Coal mine accidents that have been rampant in the mountainous state for their unscientific "rat hole mining" habits even after a National Green Tribunal imposed an interim ban April 2014.