Divers from the Navy joined the efforts after initial searches by the Army and NDRF divers. The operation is ongoing as officials continue to search for more workers believed to be trapped approximately 300 feet below the ground in the flooded mine.

The labourers were on Monday trapped inside the coal mine situated in the 3 Kilo area of Umrangso, after a sudden gush of water flooded the site. The divers located the body inside the mine early in the morning and its identity was yet to be ascertained, the officials said.

Specialised rescue teams, including Navy divers flown in from Visakhapatnam, have joined forces with the Indian Army, Assam Rifles and the National and State Disaster Response Forces (NDRF and SDRF). However, no miners have been rescued alive so far.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday that a person has been arrested after nine workers were trapped inside a coal mine in Dima Hasao district, which "appears to be illegal".

‘Rat-hole’ mining It is a method of extracting coal from horizontal seams in Meghalaya and other northeastern States. Narrow pits are dug into the ground, large enough for one person to fit in and extract the coal, just like rats dig a hole.

The chances of the survival of the eight others appear grim, though a team of navy, army, NDRF and SDRF personnel intensified their efforts to rescue the trapped miners

The body of one of the nine miners trapped in a 'rat hole' coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district was recovered on Wednesday by a diving team from the Indian Army.

Body of one of the nine workers trapped inside a coal mine in the Dima Hasao district of Assam was recovered by army divers on Wednesday. It was the third day of the rescue operations, officials said.

An official said that along with the Navy divers and other rescue teams, two water pumping machines have also been deployed to flush out the water.