Rat-hole mining may be illegal but the talent and experience of rat-hole miners were used in the rescue operation to save the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel, a National Disaster Management Authority member said on Tuesday.
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) member Lt. Gen. (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain said that rat-hole miners did a phenomenal job by digging 10 metres in less than 24 hours.
"Rat-hole mining may be illegal, but rat miners' talent and experience which is being used, it is their capability which is being used," he said in a media briefing here.