Kinnaur landslide toll rises to 15 with recovery of 2 more bodies, rescue ops on
ITBP said the death toll in the Kinnaur landslide climbed to 15 on Friday after the recovery of two more bodies.
he death toll in the Kinnaur landslide rose to 15 with the recovery of two more bodies on Friday morning, the ITBP said, and added that 13 people have been rescued so far.
The authorities had suspended the rescue operation being carried out jointly by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), ITBP, police and home guards around 10 pm on Wednesday. The rescue work resumed at 6 am on Thursday.
Sixteen people are still missing, Himachal Pradesh CM Jai Ram Thakur told the state Assembly on Thursday after returning from the landslide site near Chaura village on National Highway 5 in the Nigulsari of Nichar tehsil.
WHAT HAPPENED IN KINNAUR?
A Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus was on its way from Reckong Peo to Haridwar via Shimla when it was hit by boulders after the landslide around Wednesday noon.
As boulders started falling at the site where the vehicles were stationed, the driver, conductor and two other passengers who alighted from the bus saved themselves by taking shelter under a rock. They were later rescued.
They could not see what happened to other vehicles as it became dark around the area, the Himachal CM said on Thursday. The bus was crushed under the rubble and was found badly damaged, he added.
In a video clip on social media, a rescuer working at the site near the mangled remains of the bus is heard saying that the vehicle was found by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) 17th Battalion.
Shooting stones are still hampering the rescue operation.
HIMACHAL GOVT ANNOUNCES AID
Himachal CM Thakur met the kin of the dead and family members of those missing, assuring all possible help from the government. The CM said the state government will provide Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 to those seriously injured.
Rs 1 lakh will be given to the kin of the dead bus passengers by the Transport Department, he said, adding that free treatment will be provided to the injured.
The CM said the state government will also conduct a geological survey of the area.
News Credit: India Today
