Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly ignoring the plight of 15 miners trapped in a coal mine in Meghalaya.

“15 miners have been struggling for air in a flooded coal mine for two weeks,” he tweeted. “Meanwhile, PM struts about on Bogibeel Bridge posing for cameras.”

The miners have been trapped in the illegal rat-hole mine in East Jaintia Hills district since December 13 after being flooded by water from a nearby river. The mine is filled with 70 feet of water, making it inaccessible to the rescue workers.

The National Disaster Response Force’s efforts to rescue them have been marred by the lack of effective equipment. The commandant leading the rescue operations had told Scroll.in that they require at least 10 pumps of 100 horsepower each to pump out the water.

The Congress president accused the government of refusing to organise high-pressure pumps for the rescuers and appealed to the prime minister to save the miners. East Jaintia Hills Deputy Commissioner Federick M Dopth said the government is examining the request for the pumps and trying to ascertain “how feasible it is or whether it will be again a futile exercise”.

Last week, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said had spoken to Union minister Kiren Rijiju the day after the incident “and requested him to send more professional help”.