Rescuers recovered the body of a miner on Wednesday, two days into the search for nine workers trapped in a flooded coal mine in Assam’s hilly Dima Hasao district. The illegal mine, located 300 feet underground, became inundated on Monday after workers reportedly struck a water source, officials said.

Efforts to rescue the trapped miners have been challenging due to the extent of the flooding. Expert divers, supported by the Army and National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), retrieved the first body early on Wednesday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed on social media platform X.

In a statement, one diver recounted the difficulties of the operation, describing pitch-black conditions in which the body was located solely by touch. The recovery marks a grim milestone in the ongoing rescue mission.

The mine’s narrow, rat-hole-like tunnels, which are notorious for their danger, have further complicated operations. Rat-hole mining was banned in India in 2014 due to its environmental damage and high fatality rate, yet illegal mining persists in the region.

"It’s difficult to estimate how long the rescue operation will take because of the network of rat holes within the mine," said H P S Kandhari, a commandant with the NDRF.

The Army has deployed divers, helicopters, and engineers to assist with the rescue. However, the scale of the flooding and unstable conditions have slowed progress.

The disaster echoes a 2019 tragedy in neighboring Meghalaya, where 15 miners perished after water from a nearby river flooded an illegal rat-hole mine.

Authorities continue their efforts to locate the remaining eight miners, as questions about the enforcement of mining bans and safety regulations resurface.