Bodies of 5 missing miners found in India after 44 days

NEW DELHI -- After 44 days of intense search, rescuers in India's northeastern state of Assam have retrieved the bodies of five missing trapped workers from inside a coal mine, officials said Thursday.

The bodies were recovered Wednesday from the rat-hole coal mine in Umrangso of Dima Hasao district, about 241 km southeast of Dispur, the capital city of Assam.

The workers went missing on Jan 6, following sudden flooding inside the mine. Although search and rescue operations were launched immediately by multiple agencies, including the Indian army, navy, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Coal India Limited, the bodies of only four miners were recovered in the first six days.

Since then the operation was underway. Despite pressing several high-pressure pumps to dewater the mine, the water level was not receding.

Experts say the coal mining industry is poorly regulated in India and miners with little protection are often faced with life-threatening situations.