NEW DELHI – One body was recovered on Wednesday from a coal mine in India's north-eastern state of Assam, where nine miners were trapped two days ago with water gushing into the mine, according to the state's chief minister.

Confirming the recovery, Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on social media platform X: "21 Para divers have just recovered a lifeless body from the bottom of the well. Our thoughts and prayers are with the grieving family."

An official involved in the search and rescue work at the coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao hill district said that efforts were being made to find the rest.

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"Water is being pumped out from the coal mine. Several teams of the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, the National Disaster Response Force and the State Disaster Response Force are engaged in the rescue work," he said.

Assam's Minister of Mines and Minerals Kaushik Rai told the media that divers were sent inside the water-filled mine to locate the remaining miners trapped inside.

Local media earlier reported that hopes are increasingly dim for the survival of the still trapped coal miners.

Several teams from the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, the National Disaster Response Force, and the State Disaster Response Force were working to rescue the trapped miners.

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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.

Talking about suspension of the rescue work for the day on Tuesday, a government official overseeing the rescue work said: “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."