Mandi landslide: Rescue operations continue for second day

Shimla, August 14
Rescuers on Monday started the second day of their search operation in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district where a massive mudslide swallowed a 150m stretch of road burying homes, two buses and vehicles and leaving 46 dead.
The authorities are suspecting one or two more persons might be trapped in the mud pile that spread over a 300-metre area.
“On Monday morning we started operation to locate the missing and to retrieve bodies,” Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kadam, who is supervising the operation, told IANS .
“Since the weather is clear, we are expecting to complete the search operation by Monday evening,” a rescuer said.
A mudslide triggered late on Saturday night by heavy rain has killed at least 46 people and injured five.
All bodies have been identified and would be handed over to their families after post-mortem on Monday, an official said.
He said most of the victims belonged to Himachal Pradesh. Some of them were from Jammu and Kashmir.
One bus that was caught in the mudslide was headed for Manali from Chamba, while the second bus was bound for Katra in Jammu from Manali.
The search and rescue operation, which was stopped on Sunday night owing to landslide threat, was mounted by local authorities, the Army and the National Disaster Response Force.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who visited the spot along with his cabinet colleagues on Sunday, announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of those killed.
Leader of Opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal also visited the spot.
Describing the development as “an unprecedented tragedy”, the Chief Minister said the rescue operation would continue until the last body of the victims was recovered.
He directed the civil authorities to assess the loss to the property at the earliest so that the sufferers could be adequately compensated.