Shillong, December 30: The operation to rescue the 15 trapped miners in Meghalaya continued for the 17th day on Sunday at the 370-foot-deep illegal coal mine in East Jaintia Hills district. According to a tweet by ANI,  SK Singh, Asst Commandant NDRF said several agencies have joined the rescue operation. He informed the officials of Odisha Fire Services have reached Meghalaya with 10 high-pressure pumps to help in the rescue operations. Also, a team of Navy divers, who reached Meghalaya, have been briefed of the situation. What Is Rat-Hole Mining? 15 Meghalaya Miners Trapped in Illegal Mine Waits for Help From Government. 

On Friday, a team of the Odisha Fire Services left for Meghalaya to assist in the search and rescue operation. Director General of Fire Services, Odisha,  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 with equipment, including high-power pumps. Miners Trapped in Meghalaya's Illegal 'Rat-Hole' Mine Feared Dead.

The miners are trapped in a 370-foot-deep illegal coal mine in the Ksan area of Lumthari village in Meghalaya since December 13. The rat-hole mine got flooded by water from a nearby river and as of December 29 and is about 170 feet is full of water, an NDRF official said. Earlier, the NDRF had to suspend the rescue operation a few days ago as it did not have the equipment to draw out the water.

Out of the 20 miners, 5 managed to escape while 15 are still trapped in the rat-hole mine. On Saturday, a survivor of the December 13 accident said that there is no way the trapped miners will come out alive. Sahib Ali, hailing from Assam's Chirang district, is one of the five men who narrowly escaped the flooding coal mine a fortnight ago. Meghalaya Miners Rescue Operations: Divers from Navy and NDRF Go Inside Flooded Mine to Save 15 Men Stuck. 

Talking about the incident, Ali said all men started work early at about 5 am and by about 7 am, the entire mine was full of water. In Lumthari village where Ali and his fellow miners went to work, coal is found roughly between 200-500 feet underneath the ground.

According to a report by PTI, the state government of Meghalaya had announced a Rs 1 lakh interim relief on December 22 to the family members of each of the 15 miners trapped and feared dead, 10 days after the accident took place.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 30, 2018 01:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).