At 7:00 PM on November 14, Gill lowered the capsule into the 12-inch borehole. It descended 110 feet through pitch darkness, splashing into the water below. The first miner—a young man named Ratan Singh—crammed himself inside. His knees were against his chin. His nose touched the steel roof.

Casualties and medical response

Early in the morning of , after successful trial runs, the rescue began. At precisely 2:30 AM , Jaswant Singh Gill, the man who had designed the capsule, stepped into it and was lowered into the flooded mine—the first to go down, but the last to come up. [11†L27-L28] [17†L40-L41]

Once the hole was drilled, a custom-fabricated steel capsule would be lowered to hoist the men up one by one. Many officials rejected the plan as too risky and structurally unstable, fearing the drilling vibrations would cause a catastrophic mine collapse. Gill persisted, stakes his career and reputation on the line, and received approval to proceed. The Rescue: 65 Lives Saved

Top officials from Coal India Limited immediately mobilized to handle the crisis. Initial strategies relied entirely on heavy-duty water pumps lowered into the shafts. However, the rate of water ingress heavily outpaced the pumps. Engineers estimated that completely de-watering the mine using standard techniques would take —a timeframe the trapped miners could not survive.

(known as "Capsule Gill") designed and personally led the rescue using a specialized steel capsule. Step-by-Step Rescue Process

: Massive flooding occurred. Of the 232 miners on the night shift, 161 near the lifts escaped immediately.

The situation was dire. The debris from the roof collapse had completely choked the incline (the sloping passage used for entry and exit). Traditional rescue methods involved clearing the debris manually, but this was too slow. Any heavy machinery used incorrectly could trigger a secondary collapse, sealing the fate of the miners forever.