Death toll in illegal Indian 'rat-hole' coal mine blast climbs to 23: Official

The death toll from an explosion in an illegal coal mine in the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya rose to 23 on Friday, an official said.

The explosion ripped through a so-called "rat-hole mine" on Thursday in East Jaintia Hills district.

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"Today we recovered four more bodies. We will resume rescue operations again tomorrow," senior district official Manish Kumar told AFP.

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One of the injured men also succumbed to his injuries in hospital on Friday, taking the toll to 23.

Rat-hole mines are deep vertical shafts, often dug into hillsides, that branch out into narrow tunnels to extract coal and other minerals.

India's federal environment court banned rat-hole mining in Meghalaya in 2014 after local communities complained it was polluting water sources and endangering lives. 

However, the practice remains widespread across the state, particularly in East Jaintia Hills.

District police chief Vikash Kumar said Thursday that the explosion was likely caused by a dynamite blast.