At least 10 killed in landslide in northern India
(Update 1: adds death toll, details)
New Delhi, Aug 11 (EFE).- At least 10 people were killed, many others remained missing and 14 were rescued alive on Wednesday after a landslide in a mountainous region of the Himalayas in northern India, which buried several vehicles including a bus.
“Ten bodies have been recovered and 14 injured were rescued),” Indo-Tibetan Border Police spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey told EFE.
The incident occurred around 12.45 pm in the Kinnaur district of the state of Himachal Pradesh, but rescue teams were unable to begin search immediately as the landslide continued for hours.
The rescue work is now focused on a bus which was buried under the debris of the landslide and is believed to have been carrying more than 25 people according to Pandey.
“We are approaching the bus, which is being very difficult. Maybe in some hours we will try to find survivors (inside it),” the spokesperson said.
He added that more than 200 soldiers of the ITBP had been deployed in rescue work in the “very complicated” area, situated in hilly terrain.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured “all possible support in the ongoing rescue operations” in a tweet.
Floods and landslides are common in the monsoon season in India, which lasts from June to September, with hundreds killed every year.
In February, a massive landslide triggered by a glacier breaking its banks killed at least 45 people while 160 people went missing the Chamoli district of the state of Uttarakhand, also situated in the Himalaya mountain range. EFE
