Shillong, January 22: Days after Meghalaya government suspended the rescue operations, a fresh attempt will be made on Tuesday to pull out the decomposed body of one of the miners. The operation was suspended as the state government said the process would lead to further disintegration of the decomposed corpse. The naval team in the last week had said that if the body which was spotted by the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was pulled further, there will be a total disintegration of different parts, making it impossible to retrieve. What Is Rat-Hole Mining? 15 Meghalaya Miners Trapped in Illegal Mine Waits for Help From Government.

On January 16, the body of one of the miners who was trapped since December last year, was spotted by the navy’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in one of the shafts in the 370-foot deep mine. The state government in its status report told the top court that the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) of the Indian Navy had detected a body at a depth of 210 feet in the flooded mine and efforts were being made to retrieve it but could not be completed as the body parts started disintegrating. Indian Navy Abandons Efforts to Pull Out Decomposed Body of Miners.

"In the process of pulling the body, the skull, the left wrist, and the leg from the knee level got disengaged. It is the considered opinion of the naval team that if the body is pulled further, there will be a total disintegration of different parts, rendering the same virtually impossible to retrieve", the report stated.  According to reports, authorities have sought the help of family members of the missing miners to identify the victim. Skeletons Spotted by Indian Navy Divers, Rescue Operations Continue.

On Monday, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma told agencies to suspend operation to retrieve the body of a dead miner as it became an impossible task for rescuers. Meanwhile, the Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it is not abandoning the operation to rescue 15 miners trapped. The miners have been trapped for more than a month inside an illegal rat-hole coal mine filled with water in a remote part of Meghalaya.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 22, 2019 10:55 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).