GUWAHATI, India (AP) — At least nine workers are trapped inside a coal mine in India’s northeastern Assam state, officials said Tuesday, as authorities summoned the army to help in the rescue operation.

Rescue teams were working on Tuesday (January 7) to reach nine men trapped in a flooded coal mine in the remote district of Dima Hasao in Assam, India. Authorities said at least three miners were feared dead.

In response to a tragic incident at a coal mine in the remote “3 Kilo” area of the Dima Hasao region, close to the Assam-Meghalaya border, the Indian Army and NDRF have launched a swift Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) mission to aid in rescue operations.

Several workers are feared trapped inside a 'rat hole' coal mine after water entered into the 300-foot-deep quarry in the Dima Hasao district of Assam. The illegal mine is located in Umrangso, a remote industrial town near the Meghalaya border,