NEW DELHI, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Hopes are increasingly dim for the survival of nine coal miners who continue to be trapped inside a coal mine in India's northeastern state of Assam on Tuesday after rescue work on the day failed to reach out to them, local media reported.
The incident occurred in Assam's Dima Hasao district on Monday evening when underground water suddenly gushed into the coal mine, trapping all nine miners.
The major difficulty facing the search and rescue work was that the 300-feet deep coal mine was filled with water up to 150 feet. Efforts were made to drain the water from the coal mine, but the trapped workers could not be reached.
Several teams from the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, the National Disaster Response Force, and the State Disaster Response Force tried to rescue the trapped miners.
According to a government official overseeing the rescue work, the search and rescue operation has been suspended for the day on Tuesday. "Currently, as many as three dewatering pumps were operating and another one was to be installed. The Indian Navy divers could not go below 30 feet underwater inside the coal mine."
"No dead bodies could be recovered yet as there was too much water inside the mining well," added the official.
The search and rescue work would resume on Wednesday, he added. ■