Sitting in his home hundreds of kilometres away from Meghalaya, Sayeb Ali is not too sure whether he would ever want return to the hill state and work in the “dangerous” rat-hole coal mines to earn a living.

Ali, 21, from Panbari in Assam’s Chirang district, was fortunate to have escaped from the mine accident, which had led to 17 people, according to him, and not 13, being trapped inside on Thursday morning.

Ali told The Telegraph over phone on Tuesday morning that on that fateful morning, 18 miners, including he, were inside the dark coal mine, while four others were overground. The accident occurred around 8.30am, he recalled.

Apart from the 13 miners, he said there were another four who were trapped inside. They include Monirul Islam, Shaher Islam and Amir Hussain from his village whose documents are in his possession. He also said there was another miner from Nepal.

The young miner had walked to another mine, about 4km from the accident site, on Thursday night to take shelter before he left on Friday with two of his family members.

Ali said the miners had been called to work in another coal mine situated at “Bangla”, and not the one at Ksan near the Lyteiñ river under Saipung police station, where the mishap occurred.

“But since work could not be carried out in the mine at Bangla as there was water inside it, the sordar (manager) took us to that mine where the accident occurred. We worked there for around 12 days before the mishap,” he said.

He said the labourers had expressed doubts on how work could be carried out in this mine when all others were filled with water.

Ali said he had never worked in a mine like the one at Ksan. “The mines where I had worked earlier had ladders. But this one, which is around 320 feet deep, there was not even a single ladder. There was only a box fitted into a crane which would take us in and out.”

On whether he would go back and work in the mines, he said, “My family and friends are asking me never to go and work in Meghalaya again as there is no guarantee whether I would return home alive.”

Ali said the miners are paid according to the hours they put in. Experienced miners are paid around Rs 2,000, but those like him get around Rs 800 to Rs 900 daily.

“If I work in my village, I will get paid around Rs 200-Rs 300 per day whereas I need around Rs 400 per day to take care of my family of nine. In Meghalaya, I get paid more,” he said.

“It will be good for the families if the government pays compensation, because they too need to survive,” he said, fearing the worst.