At least 18 miners have died and one is severely injured after an explosion at an illegally-operated coal mine in India's northeastern state of Meghalaya, police say, BBC reported. 

Rescue operations are on and some people are still feared trapped, police say, adding that the blast occurred around 11:00 local time (5:30 GMT) on Thursday in the East Jaintia Hills of the state.

Superintendent of the state police Vikash Kumar told reporters that the accident happened due to rat-hole mining - a hazardous method which involves the use of dynamite to break open narrow tunnels through which workers crouch to extract coal, according to BBC.