A group of Indian Navy divers are being taken by air from Visakhapatnam to join operations to rescue 15 miners trapped in a flooded rat-hole coal mine in Meghalaya since December 13, official sources said here on Friday.
They said the divers will join ongoing rescue operations on Saturday morning.
Three naval personnel have already reached the site of the rescue operation and a group of divers will join them in the next 12 hours, the sources said.
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The miners are trapped in a 370-feet-deep illegal coal mine in Ksan area of Lumthari village in Meghalaya since December 13.
A team of the Odisha Fire Services also left for Meghalaya on Friday to assist in the rescue operations.
Director General of Fire Services B.K. Sharma said a 20-member team led by Chief Fire Officer Sukanta Sethi left for Shillong in a special Indian Air Force aircraft.
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“Get, set and go,” Mr. Sharma tweeted as the Odisha team boarded the IAF plane.
“They will assist local authorities in the rescue of the trapped coal miners,” he said. The team was carrying at least 20 high-power pumps, an official said. Each pump is capable of flushing out 1,600 litres per minute, he added.