‘The hope of survival of the remaining trapped miners appears to be waning as they remain trapped for the ninth day. However, the rescue operations will continue,” he said.Dewatering is being carried out with the help of nine pumps while six more have been installed for use if required, he said.The rescue operations were being conducted jointly by the army, Assam Rifles, NDRF, SDRF and district administration. An underwater remote-operating vehicle was also being sent inside the quarry at regular intervals to capture images of the trapped miners, the official said.The first body was recovered on January 8 and three others on Saturday.The chief minister had earlier claimed that the mine was abandoned 12 years ago and was under the Assam Mineral Development Corporation till three years ago. He said that the leader of the workers has been arrested, and the police are conducting investigations into the case.Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a SIT probe into the mining tragedy in Assam. He also alleged that “illegal mining continues unchecked” due to “weak law enforcement and local complicity” in the northeastern state.
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