At least nine men were trapped in the 90-metre (300-foot) deep mine in the northeastern state of Assam when it was flooded on Monday.

Divers spent the following days scouring the tunnels for signs of any survivors.

Rescuers retrieved the first body on Tuesday with three more taken out on Saturday.

“The water level is receding inside the mine as pumps have been drawing out water,” an official from the National Disaster Response Force told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to talk to media.

“Waters are still very high inside. But, we could see three bodies today and retrieved them.”

Assam state chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters that the mine had been shuttered 12 years ago and those inside the facility were there illegally.