They were among nine miners trapped in the mine – which was constructed as a narrow, manually-dug hole known as a “rat hole” – when it flooded on January 6.

The bodies of four of the men were recovered in the early days of the operation, but it took until this Wednesday to retrieve the remains of the remaining five.

The chief minister of the north-eastern state of Assam, where the mine was located, confirmed the recovery on X.

“The mortal remains of the remaining five miners have been recovered and brought up from the mine shaft,” Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

“The process to identify the remains has been initiated.”

Rat hole mining is illegal in India, but the practice persists in some areas.