Rescue operation hamper by more shooting Stones in Kinnuar, Official death toll projected 30
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said in the state assembly today that rescue operation was hamperred by shooting stones at Neugalseri landslides spot in Kinnuar district as officials death figure is project around 30 .
Mr Thakur who was on ground zero since last evening said that stones and boulders rolling down the steep hills, rescue teams had to stop their search operation.
He said that now rescue team is focusing it’s operations at Thach Nullah near Nigalsari in disaster struck Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh where 16 more bodies might be under the debries or washed away in the mighty Sutlaj river.
As it has been stated earlier that massive landslide hit the Thach Nullah killing 14 people and injuring 13 in the natural disaster.
The Chief Minister also said that the rescue teams have recovered 14 bodies and 13 injured persons from under the debris so far and about 16 people are still believed to be buried.
He said that official estimated bthat about 43 people were trapped in the tragedy with 13 survivors retrieved and 14 bodies recovered.
Mr Thakur also announced a financial compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the injured besides giving free medical treatment.
Besides this, the transport department will also give Rs one lakh each to the kins of the deceased passengers travelling in the bus
With the second day of search operation over, there are bleak chances of any person’s survival huge in the rock and soil deposits on the spot, Thakur added. The Chief Minister also met the injured people at Bhavanagar hospital besides consoling the kith and kin of those dead and missing persons.
The rescue teams primarily ITBP, NDRF and local police are doing their search job on the spot whenever sliding rocks give them a chance. The raging mountains of the Kinnaur Himalayas are shooting stones and rolling boulders, hampering the rescue and search operations on the spot of the incident.
“We will take one or two more days to find the bodies as machines cannot move on the steep slopes and it’s very difficult to run the retrieving exercise amid rolling rocks from the uphill,” he said
The NDRF have deployed a 60 person team on the spot, doing a shoveling and search operation to retrieve the bodies soon, said Inspector Hari Om of NDRF.
About half a dozen vehicles including a bus were buried in the landslide yesterday with about 50 persons feared trapped underground.
Monsoon rains are wreaking havoc in Himachal Pradesh this year, killing 248 people and 503 animals and damaging properties worth Rs 785 crores till now.
