Rescuers in India are racing against time to rescue miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in the northeastern state of Assam.

Three of the nine men inside are feared dead after the state government said rescue teams found some bodies they could not reach, Reuters reported.

The men were trapped Monday morning when water flooded the Mouse Hole Mine, a narrow hole dug by hand for mining coal.

Although India has banned such mining since 2014, small illegal mines continue to operate in Assam and other northeastern states.

Divers, helicopters and engineers have been deployed to help rescue those trapped, and state and national disaster response forces are also providing assistance.

On Monday night, Assam police chief GP Singh said authorities were ascertaining the exact number of people trapped.

According to reports, more than a dozen miners have successfully escaped, and preliminary reports indicate that “the number of people is only single digits.”

The mine is located in the hilly area of ​​Dima Hasao District.

Mayank Kumar Jha, a senior police officer in the area, told Reuters the area was very “remote” and “difficult to reach”.

Mine-related disasters are not uncommon in Northeast India.

In December 2018, at least 15 men were trapped in an illegal mine in the neighboring state of Meghalaya when it was flooded by a nearby river.

Five miners managed to escape, but rescue efforts for the others continued until the first week of March. Only two bodies were found.

In January 2024, a fire broke out in a rathole coal mine in Nagaland, killing six workers.

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