Several teams of diggers were clearing tons of debris after a large section of the mine ceiling collapsed near the entry point of the Lalmatia mines in the Godda district of Jharkhand state late Thursday.
Some unconfirmed media reports put the number of trapped workers at 50 but a top official of the government owned mine said only 10-12 miners were present at the time of the accident.
"We are trying to make contact with them. We cannot comment whether they are trapped inside the mine or under the debris," Niladri Roy, general manager Eastern Coalfields Limited, told AFP.
Roy said a near 250 meter section of the roof is suspected to have collapsed as the workers headed towards the exit gate around 7:30pm local time. There was no immediate explanation for the collapse.
The miners are employed by a private contractor and work round-the-clock.
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Jharkhand is one of the richest mineral zones in India, some 29 percent of the country's coal deposits present in the impoverished state.
